


All For One But Your Ass Is Mine

by hunters_retreat



Category: CW Network RPF, Supernatural RPF
Genre: F/M, Inspired by a Movie, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-16
Updated: 2011-02-16
Packaged: 2018-01-07 12:26:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1119814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunters_retreat/pseuds/hunters_retreat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jared Padalecki had one dream in life, to become a member of the Queen's Guard.  When he set out from home to fulfill his dream, little did he know the adventure that awaited him, nor how what he always thought he wanted wasn't really what he needed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All For One But Your Ass Is Mine

 

[ ](http://s1180.photobucket.com/user/hunters_retreat/media/Art%20Made%20by%20hunters_retreat/All%20For%20One%20But%20You%20Ass%20Is%20Mine%20by%20hunters_retreat/YourAssIsMine.jpg.html)

“My sister’s honor will be avenged!”

Jared stared at the three men on the floor and then up to the prettily dressed dandy in front of him, his energy sword on the floor at his feet.  Jared dropped the tip of his own blade for a moment and opened his mouth, closing it twice before letting out a bark of a laugh.  “I didn’t touch your sister.”

“And you expect me to believe you?” the man asked, waving a hand at his fallen siblings.

“Okay, this is all a misunderstanding.”  Jared offered as he held his hands up.  “I thought we were fighting about your little _brother’s_ honor.  I definitely touched him.”

“What?”

Gerard’s eyes were wide in shock and Jared bowed slightly.  “Sorry about this Gerard, but I have to go.  The Queen’s Guard will be at the Hall tonight and I plan on joining them.”

“It’s a foolish dream,” Gerard spat back at him.  “You’ll never be one of them.”

Jared didn’t bother with an answer.  He knew Gerard was part of the King’s Guard and there was a strong rivalry between the two, but no one could argue that the Queen’s Guard boasted the finest swordsmen in the universe.  The King’s Guard was just a group of second rate hand-me-downs who couldn’t make it into the Queen’s Guard.  What would Gerard know about what it took to be worthy of such an honor?  Instead, Jared adjusted his grip on his energy sword so that the impact would do less damage.  The blade blunted and Jared brought it forward, the flattened tip touching Gerard’s chest.  The man’s body seized up as the electric shock coursed through him and then he landed on the floor with his brothers.

Jared walked away without looking back, trying to find a way from the space port to the Hall.  He made a mental note to never sleep with an Innkeeper’s son again, but it was forgotten almost as soon as he thought it.  His mind was on other things and Jared had always, always been too fond of a pretty face.  

 

[ ](http://s1180.photobucket.com/user/hunters_retreat/media/Art%20Made%20by%20hunters_retreat/All%20For%20One%20But%20You%20Ass%20Is%20Mine%20by%20hunters_retreat/Yourassisminediv.jpg.html)

 

 The Hall was more than Jared expected; a three story entertainment facility that had, at its center, an arena for performances that brought audiences and performers from across the galaxy.  He’d seen photos of it before, watched the vids of the Queen’s Guard putting on displays of such intensity and devotion to sword work that it left him dizzy just to remember.  He’d spent hours watching them as he grew up.  Jared wasn’t exactly slacking in that area himself but these men were real masters, and not just because they were dedicated to the sword.  They used their skill every day of their lives to defend the Queen from the enemies of the Tressian Empire.

Tonight was likely to be the last show in a while.  The King had died two nights before and in two months time the Princess would be expected to put aside her grief and take over the Empire.  She was known for her frivolities rather than her attention to matters of the state so enemies would be circling quickly, looking for any weakness they could exploit.  It was the Queen’s Guard who kept the peace, who made certain the head of the state was never harmed and never taken by surprise.  The rumors said that Queen Samantha the Sincere had taken what was an extraordinary guard and turned them into something even more.  Some people spoke of assassins and spies, of a network of undercover agents in every government across the galaxy so that her ear was always full of the events of other kingdoms.    Jared approved of the Queen using the Guard in whatever manner she saw fit to defend her Empire, though he immediately brushed aside any thoughts of the Guard as assassins.  The Queen’s Guard was far too honorable for that.   They were a breed apart, men and women who believed in honor and the sanctity of life.  They believed in besting an opponent in a fair fight, but fought with every arsenal in their range because they didn’t fight to lose. Any assassins on the loose had nothing to do with the Queen’s Guard. 

The Hall, as spectacular as it was, was nothing more than another house of entertainment though, a venue for which the Queen allowed her Guard to show their skill and remind the people of the men and women who defended them.  Alcohol and virtual realities were sold on the first level at bars on the back wall, leaving the middle area open for viewing the large arena that sat in the center of the building.  On most nights the arena was open for dancing but this night it was roped off for the Queen’s Guard exhibition.   All three levels overlooked the arena so that there were plenty of seats for the performances, or the occasional duel.  They were supposed to be common among the Guard, especially between the Queen’s Guard and the King’s Guard.  Both would be grieving the loss of the King, but other rumors said that the King’s Guard had become more as well, that the King had intended to use it to take the throne from the hands of his fickle-minded daughter and give it into the hands of his politically-minded nephew.  If they were another Empire it might not seem a problem.  Prince Christian was fair minded and well spoken with a degree of experience that would certainly have placed him on the Princess Danneel’s council even at his young age.  However, the Tressian Empire was matriarchal; the blood of each generation running from mother to daughter to ensure that royal blood truly did sit on the throne.

It was all just rumor but the Queen had died a year before and now with the King’s death people worried about rumor and conjecture far more openly than they would have in the past, especially given the relative youth of both the King and Queen at the times of their passing.  Foul play had been ruled out for both but again, people listened to rumor more passionately than they listened to the truth.

Jared didn’t have the heart for politics but he did have a strong body and a way with the energy sword.  His mama said if he could learn to control his mouth or his libido he’d have had less practice with the sword and Jared couldn’t disagree with that.  His dream had always been to join the Queen’s Guard though so he didn’t see a problem with a little extra practice, even if his mother had been training him for something else.

Jared pulled himself away from his musings and took his drink from the vender, heading up to the second level of the Hall.  The bar across from the elevation stairs sold every type of service you could want for the night. Blank minded men and women lined the walls in their glass cases, staring out with blank eyes until they were needed.  All you had to do was pay the price and get your chip.  Once you uploaded it into the glass case, the program was uploaded and you got whatever you asked for, appearance, personality, and pleasure. 

He pushed away from that level and up to the third, not at all interested in the type of whores that were for sale.  He never really cared for bought company and he was still happily sated from the night before.  Even if Gerard was an ass - and it did give a certain credibility to the rumors that all the King’s Guard were ill tempered that way- his little brother had been kind and sweet, intelligent and thoughtful.  And very well aware of what he wanted, Jared thought with a smile.  Only a few months younger than Jared and he’d made himself clear on what exactly he meant when he said he was at Jared’s service.

He was so caught up in his own memories that when a man came barreling towards him he didn’t notice until it was too late to step aside.  He was crushed back into the wall, startling blue eyes and a quirky grin staring up at him.  Cute, Jared thought through his annoyance, but not that cute.  “Watch it,” he yelled, trying to be heard over the music that was pumping through the third level’s dance floors.

“Sorry, but thank you.  I was being attacked by a series of wenches that believed the world would be best suited if I were stripped naked and sent circling the bar on parade.  They’ll think twice about approaching with a strapping lad like you around.”

There was some sort of grim humor in his eyes, like he was making a joke at Jared’s expense and one that Jared wasn’t even aware of.  His eyes spoke of intelligence and his arms were strong and muscular.  Even with the look in his eyes, his lips were quirked up in a half smile and the lines at the corners of his lips suggested he laughed often.  Jared pushed the man off him as if he could force away the need to categorize him.  The shove was hard enough that the stranger staggered back a few steps. 

“Well, there is no need to be rude.”

“Says the man who just barreled into me.  Damn, where do they teach you people manners?” Jared asked as he stalked away.  He knew he’d been rude and his upbringing demanded he make amends but he was done with all that.  He was going to be one of the Queen’s Guard and forget about the rest of it for as long as he could. 

The second level seemed to involve less face planting into the wall by strange drunks so Jared went back down.  There were only a few seats open and Jared slumped down into the first one he could find.  He didn’t pay much attention to the other inhabitant of the booth until he felt a foot knocking into his leg.

“I drink alone,” the voice said menacingly.

Jared turned to inform him that drinking alone would probably be best suited to a quite room than the most exclusive club in the city but the words died as he looked at the man for the first time.  He had dirty blond spikes of hair, close cropped and yet unruly as it stuck out in every direction, strong features with a spatter of freckles, pink, plump lips that had Jared wetting his own instinctively and when he looked up, jade eyes dance in the light, shifting from annoyance to curiosity as he watched.

“Anyone tell you it’s rude to stare, boy?” He asked as he took a long pull from his bottle.

“Uh … sorry,” Jared said, shaking his head.  He’d never let anyone’s appearance ruffle his feathers like this before but damned if he wasn’t the most beautiful man Jared had ever seen.  He dropped his eyes and found himself staring at the other man’s hands.  They looked strong, the type of hands that were calloused from long hours of use and could tell a story about the man behind them. 

“Still staring.”

Jared looked up, startled, and felt himself blushing, but the voice didn’t belong to the man he had been looking at.  It came from the man who had crashed into him upstairs.  “You don’t have much room to talk the way you’re stalking me.”

“Oh, you found a young, pretty one,” another voice came up from behind the others.  He was older with a salt and pepper beard but his brown eyes were alight with life and his mouth turned up in an amused smile.

“I was drinking,” the green- eyed man said as he took another long pull from his bottle.  “He found me.”

“They always do,” said the stalker and the older man laughed. 

Jared started to stand but the older man put a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down before he could move.  He turned to Green-eyes and ignored Jared.   “Looks like they’re going to make the announcement here tonight as well.”

“What announcement?” Jared asked, but they ignored him.

“That should go well with the crowd.” Jared didn’t need to look up at his stalker to hear the sarcasm in his voice.

“Misha,” Green-eyes scolded.

“No, they’re worked up to see the Queen’s Guard.  When they hear what happened there’s likely to be a riot.”

“I know you don’t like it,” the older man said, “but Misha’s right.  Things are going to be bad tonight.”

“You think we should just leave then, Jeff?”

“No, of course not, but we won’t do anyone much good when we get arrested.”

Jared didn’t know what the hell was going on but the lights went out as the older man, Jeff, spoke and they all looked up.  The light of the arena was almost blinding in the darkness and Misha and Jeff were moving to the center of the level even as the green-eyed man and Jared moved out of the booth. 

Three men walked out into the arena, two moving along the edges and one to the very center.  He was older than the first two, dressed in the formal, polished suit of a politician whereas the other two wore energy swords at their side and were dressed as officers of the King’s Guard, black uniforms with red trim.  Both men wore medals on their breasts that should have proclaimed them great heroes and yet they were King’s Guard, not the Queen’s.  The Queen, while recognizing their accomplishments didn’t trust them with her personal safety.   A shiver went up Jared’s spine and he pushed in closer to the railing to see what was about to happen.

“The Queen’s Guard boasts the most fantastic and incredible works of sword play in the entire galaxy.  They are considered the most noble, the most heroic, and the most incorruptible of men.”

The man stopped as the Hall erupted in screams, people eager for the entertainment they had been promised.  Jared looked around at the crowd and wondered if Misha was right.  He didn’t know what sort of announcement was being made, but the crowd was worked up and sometimes all it took was the right kindling to start a fire.  Jared knew that better than most.   

“You were promised an amazing display of agility and swordsmanship tonight, but I am afraid to disappoint you.  I am Vice Minister Hutton and it is my unfortunate and regrettable job to inform you that the Queen’s Guard has been officially disbanded.”

Jared felt his own eyes go wide at the announcement.  The Queen’s Guard couldn’t be disbanded.  There had always been, and always would be a Queen’s Guard to keep the Queen and her kingdom safe.  The murmur of discontent swallowed the hall but Hutton raised a hand to the crowd.  “It saddens me to say, but the Princess Danneel has disappeared entirely, leaving only a note saying that her most loyal guards have taken her away someplace safe, someplace where she would be able to live her days in peace as she wanted, not to be hounded after about the affairs of a kingdom she did not want to rule.”

There was a stunned silence and Jared felt himself gasping at the information they’d just been handed.  The Vice Minister was one of the most trusted men in the Royal Council.  He was the people’s voice and was the right hand of the royal family.  The thought of the Princess abandoning her kingdom was unthinkable though.   Jared closed his eyes at the thought of it, pressing against the soaring hope and the anguish that came with the announcements.  If the Princess did not take her place on the throne, there was no need for his training but there was also no Queen’s Guard to join either. 

He opened his eyes as the Vice Minister began speaking again.  He didn’t know the man on a personal level though he knew about him and something about his words didn’t feel right.  Jared watched him closely, the way he moved and how he spoke but nothing became any clearer.  Whatever he was hiding, he was good at it. 

“We are all bewildered by the actions that were taken not only by the Princess but by those that were supposed to be protecting the integrity of the Royal family.  With the Princess gone, the Queen’s Guards who have proven their loyalty have been renamed into the King’s Guard.  So tonight, I give you,” as he spoke more men came out into the arena, “the entertainment of the King’s Guard.”

“Fucking King’s Guard my ass.” 

Jared hadn’t realized the green-eyed man was so close behind him until he felt the words against his ear.  When he turned to look, the other man had turned back to look at Jeff and Misha.

“You have something in mind, Jensen?” Misha asked.

“Wait, you’re Jensen?  Jensen Ackles?” 

“The same,” Jensen said as he looked away from Jared.  “The people came to see the Queen’s Guard.  They should get the show they came for.”

“It would be a shame to disappoint,” Jeff said with a grin, “especially when they brought Hodge and Abel with them.”

Misha tilted his head for a minute, staring at Jeff.  “I didn’t know you disliked them.”

“Oh, I like them all just fine,” Jeff said with a smile.  “Beating the hell out of the golden boys of the King’s Guard’s just amuses me.”

“Jensen Ackles? The head of the Queen’s Guard?”

Jensen gave him a wink and a smirk.  “The one and only, though since the Queen’s Guard has been disbanded I don’t think the title is quite so impressive anymore.”

“No, you can’t really be disbanded.  I came to join you.”

“Hate to tell you kid, you’re a little late to the show.”  Jeff said.

“What’s your name?” Misha asked as Jensen leaned over the railing as eight of the King’s Guardsmen took up their places in the arena. 

“Jared Padalecki.”

“Thought so,” Jeff said with a grin. “Look just like your mom, boy.”

“You know my mom?”

“Time to catch up after the show boys and girls,” Jensen said as he pushed past the others.  Jared started to follow but Jeff grabbed his wrist and pulled him back. 

“Now’s not the time to be stupid, Jared.”

Jared looked over to where Jensen had disappeared.  “What’s he doing?”

Misha moved until he was standing shoulder to shoulder with Jared.  He looked up at him and gave him a wicked grin.  “Something stupid of course!” He said with a small wink, and then pushed through the crowd to get to the elevation stairs. 

“Just keep your head down, Jared.  When tonight is over you can say you saw a hell of a show and go back home to that pretty mom of yours.”

He gripped Jeff’s wrist tight.  “I came to join you.  I’m not giving up that easily.”

“The Queen’s Guard has been dissolved.  There is nothing to join.”

“You’re gonna tell me, that after everything, you’re going to believe that the Princess took off on her own with a handful of guards based on someone else’s say so?” Jared asked.  No matter what Vice Minister Hutton said, Jared needed to know that the Queen’s Guard was doing their duty and looking for her.

Jeff sighed softly.  “Look, kid, just keep your head down.  No matter what happens tonight, you can find me at the Any Port hotel.  They know me well enough there.”

“Whatever you’re doing, I can help,” Jared tried one more time.

Jeff smiled.  “Maybe you know how to use that pig sticker you got there, and maybe you don’t, but I’m not gonna find out against ten of the King’s best.”

He didn’t have time to say anything else because then Jeff was jumping up on the ledge as if waiting for something.  Silence filled the arena below and as they watched, the King’s Guard stopped moving and a lone figure came out onto the floor. 

Misha stood in all his glory, dark hair and blue eyes searching the audience.

“I heard there was supposed to be a performance by the Queen’s Guard tonight.  Perhaps they are disbanded as the Vice Minister said.  Perhaps they gave in as easily as that.”

Jeff jumped from the second story railing and Jared watching as he landed, going to one knee and then standing straight, pulling on his full height.  “Perhaps not,” he said into the crowd.  He and Misha both pulled off their cloaks and Jared could see then the black and blue of the Queen’s Guard uniform that had been carefully hidden before.  The crowd went wild in their adoration and the King’s Guard turned from their show forms to stand against the two men.

“You think you have a chance here?” Hutton sneered at Jeff.  “Ten of my men against the two of you?”

 “You can surrender now if you’d like, but I’d prefer a fight.” Jeff smiled and the crowd laughed with him, as if it was all just a part of the show and not real animosity between the two sets of fighters in the arena.

The King’s Guardsmen pulled their electric swords out and just as they were about to advance there was a piercing cry from above.  Jared looked up just in time to see Jensen swan dive off the top level railing.  He plummeted towards the ground, and then caught one of the banners that crossed over the arena.  It broke free from one side, and Jensen rode it down until he was standing at the very center of the arena.  He smiled at the audience, raised his hand in a wave before turning back to Hutton. 

“The good people came for a show, Vice Minister Hutton.  How could we disappoint?”

“Hodge!”

Hutton was backing away from the confrontation but one of the Guardsmen who had first come in with him was walking to the center.  He was tall and strong, skin dark as night and his smile was sharp.  “What happened to your all for one crap?  Seems like the rest of your men deserted.”

Jensen’s smile was sharper.  “I’ll take Morgan and Collins at my back over Abel and your eight backups any day.”

Jared didn’t wait to see what happened next.  He could hear the sizzle of electric swords dancing over one another even as he turned from the arena.  The elevation stairs were blocked by people and he knew he’d never get through that way and he wasn’t about to go up and over the railing into an arena of fighting men.  It made a nice entrance for Jeff but it was a good way to get stuck by an unintentional sword if you weren’t lucky.

He watched the room and finally saw a stairway back behind the bar.  He ducked behind the bar but no one was there to notice.  The feud between the King and Queen’s Guard was far too heated for people to be anywhere else but watching the display.  He jumped onto the elevation stairs and ducked behind a cabinet in the back when he got to the first level to keep out of trouble.  Jared was next to the kitchen’s exit and he pulled himself back further into a corner, hearing conspiratorial whispers as two men approached the rear doors.   As much as he wanted to be out and in the middle of the fight, his instinct told him to stay and listen.  His mother’s first rule when she started training him had been simple; trust your instinct and learn to supplement it.  So he pulled back and waited. 

The men stopped at the exit and while Jared couldn’t peek around the corner to see who it was talking, there was a nice shiny pot in front of him that gave him a distorted view of the men on the other side.  He knew the first by his voice anyway.  He’d just heard it in the arena.

“Take care of this Abel.  I want the Queen’s Guard dishonored and discredited by morning.”

“Of course Vice Minister,” Jake Abel, the King’s Guard who had come into the arena with the Vice Minister and Aldis Hodge, nodded.  “What about the other matter?”

“The Princess is being escorted to the Planet Buenota on the DreamWalker out of Wakeview in two days time.  Prince Christian will be upset to find out about her departure and his show of obvious grief at her disappearance will remind the people that he is truly a kind soul who loves his cousin dearly.   When she doesn’t return in time for the coronation, Christian will take the throne.  When we take care of Prince Christian, you will come forward as the long lost son of the royal family and you will take the throne.”

“And then?” Abel’s voice held a fair amount of skepticism and it was obvious he didn’t trust the Vice Minister.

Hutton smiled.  “I have no need for more titles than I already own.”

“Then what do you want?”

Hutton reached a hand out, caressing Abel’s cheek fondly.  “Keep your title.  Once you are king, we’re going to extend Tressia’s power.”

They shared a smile and then Hutton leaned closer.  “Now, get back out there and get rid of this menace.  Remind me that my bulldog has teeth.”  Hutton was out the back door then, a handful of men following behind him though it was obvious they’d been too far away to hear the rest of the discussion.

Jared’s mind was reeling and he took a deep breath, trying to process what he’d just heard.  The princess was in danger and Abel was being set up to take the throne.  Prince Christian was a kind soul who would never take the power for himself but the Vice Minister was obviously the sort of man who would.  This was more than he’d ever expected to learn.  The one thing that was certain in all of it though was that he needed to get to what was left of the Queen’s Guard and tell them what he knew.  He might be good on his own, but he couldn’t take on the Vice Minister and the King’s Guard alone. 

Abel started to walk back through the kitchen and Jared followed along the sides, watching and listening in case he gave off any more information.  Abel moved with efficient grace to the door though, every movement in line with his desire to be on the arena floor with the rest of the King’s Guardsmen.  Jared was definitely with him on that one.  He gave it a second after Abel left the room before crashing out of the doors himself.  It was a mistake because while Abel had been determined to leave the kitchen he hadn’t made a move beyond the first few steps.  When Jared came barreling out, he ran straight into him.  Abel’s wide eyes might have been comical if Jared couldn’t see the murderous knowledge that Jared had been in the kitchen the entire time.

Jared threw himself off the other man and ran.  As much as he would have liked to have tested his blade against the other, he had spent his entire life wanting to be part of the Queen’s Guard and he knew that his own pride be damned.  He had to get the Jensen Ackles and tell him that the Princess’s life was in danger.

The crowd wasn’t letting him through though and with Abel on his tail Jared gave up on subtlety.  He climbed up onto the nearest table and began jumping from one to another, spilling food and drinks and toppling startled customers in his wake. 

He looked back when he heard a yell from behind and watched as Abel followed him up on the tables.  He was gaining on him, using the fact that Jared had already cleared the way to give himself a little extra speed.  Jared ignored him and made a dash to the arena.  He could hear Abel behind him, getting closer.  He wasn’t sure he could make it but he jumped from the last table just as he heard the zing of the electric sword where his feet had just been.  He dove from the table, rolling across the floor and to his feet.  His hands were reaching back for the two electric swords he kept at his back, one long and one short, and he had them up just in time for Abel to leap into the arena.

Abel was stalking towards him and it gave Jared a second to regroup, to see what he’d just jumped into the middle of.  There were four guardsmen on the floor in the arena, unconscious, with another one clinging to a limp arm where an energy sword must have been set to disable instead of maim.  It was a fine stroke, whoever did it.  Jared didn’t expect anything less of the Queen’s men in the arena.  Misha’s smile had disappeared to be replaced with such a look of severe concentration that Jared would have looked twice to believe it was the same man, but those blue eyes caught him for a moment before he turned his sword on the two men at this side and the quirk of his expression showed humor enough to reassure him.  Jensen was smiling sweetly at Hodge whose expression was completely blank of any emotion.  Jeff had his own man coming up to him, but it was obvious that the King’s man was tired and Jeff was playing him.

“Boy, thought we told you to stay out of trouble,” Jeff said as his side. 

“Mom always said the same thing.”

“I can see how well that took.”

“Jared!”  A voice shouted from the third level and he looked up in time to see more men from the King’s Guard.  He knew the voice and groaned.  “I told you I would be avenged!”

The crowd was too thick to see the actual number of men that had shown up with Gerard but it didn’t matter.  “I told you, I didn’t sleep with your sister.  Her honor is completely intact!”  He screamed up in frustration.

Jeff’s sudden movements made quick work of his opponent and then both he and Misha were at Jared’s side.  A second later, Hodge joined Abel as the stepped through the arena to get closer to Jared.   Jensen stepped in front of the three of them, looking over his shoulder at Jared.  “Why is Abel so interested in you kid?”

“I overheard him talking to the Vice Minister in the kitchen before he left.” Jared said softly as he watched Abel.  He and Hodge were the only men left standing on the arena stage and they were outmatched, waiting for their back up to join them from the higher levels.  “He said that in two days the Princess is going to be on the Dreamwalker, a ship leaving Wakeview for the Planet Buenota.  They plan on putting Prince Christian on the throne and use an assassination to put a ‘lost’ member of the royal family in his place.”

The three Queen’s men stared at him for a second.  “And that?” he asked, looking up at Gerard and the King’s men trying to find their way down to the main floor of the arena. 

“Complete misunderstanding.  He thought we were dueling over his sister’s honor.”

“And you thought?”

“We were dueling for his brother’s,” Jared said with a grin.  “Okay, so he did catch me kissing his sister, but that was as far as it went.  She found me sneaking out of her brother’s room and asked for a kiss for her silence.  The kiss might have gotten a little carried away.  I didn’t want to disappoint.”

Jeff slapped him hard on the back and his laughter filled the arena.  Jensen’s smile was bright, his eyes lighting up in ways that made it hard for Jared to breath.  “What do you know; looks like there’s still a Queen’s Guard after all.    Glad to have you with us Jared.”

“Now that we’ve enjoyed the witty repartee, do we have a plan or are we waiting for the rest of the King’s Guard?” Misha cut into the banter.

Jensen rolled his eyes and nodded.  “Out the front boys.”

Misha and Jeff began moving them slowly towards the exit and Jared followed with them, watching as Jensen waved up to the crowd.  They were still screaming at the night’s events and Jared knew that this moment would be the talk of the Empire for weeks, if not months, to come. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, we hate to leave a good fight unfinished, but tonight’s entertainment must unfortunately be cut short.  We are the Queen’s Guard after all, and our duty is to protect.”  He bowed at the waist and smiled up at the cameras that were surrounding them all.  “Perhaps once the Queen is sitting on her throne,” he said to Hodge and Abel, “we can take this up again.”

No one made a move for the Queen’s Guard as they went out the front door and when they stood outside Jared was twitching from the excitement.  “What now?”

“We get the hell out of here before Abel can make a pretty excuse for the cameras,” Jeff said as they followed Jensen away from the Hall.

“Misha, get us passage for four to Wakeview.”  Misha nodded to Jensen and turned to Jeff, dark eyes somber as he gracefully bowed his head to Jeff.  Jeff mimicked the motion stiffly.

“Jeff-”

“Nope.”

“He just give me to you?”

“Yep.”

“Damn it, this goes beyond-”

“Can’t make him anything less than he is, Jensen, but I won’t betray his trust when we can stay together and get everything done.”

Jensen sighed.  “Yeah.  Alright.  Let’s get to All Port and pack up. Got anything you have to have in your hotel boy?”

Jared shook his head.  “Just some clothes that I can easily replace.”  He’d left everything that mattered back home with his mom.  Once he was part of the guard he’d planned on sending for it all but he hadn’t wanted to travel with anything too precious in case he needed time to settle in.  He was grateful of it now. 

“Good.  By the time Misha gets us on a ship we should be ready to go.”

“So that’s it?  We leave Hutton and Abel with the Prince and leave them to do what they want while we’re gone?”

“We’re the Queen’s Guard.  Our duty is to the Queen and her throne.  Hutton isn’t going to tear it down when he wants to use it.  He needs the throne intact so there is no threat to the Empire except what he plans to do with Prince Christian once he’s on the throne.  We just need to get to the Princess first.”

Jared nodded though he had his doubts.  The Princess wasn’t exactly the ruling type, but Jensen was right, their job was to put the rightful person on the throne, not to judge what she’d do once she was.  Only time would tell what sort of ruler the Princess Danneel would become and only their assistance would put her there. No matter what else would come after the fact. 

“Right, count me in.”

Jeff looked at him for a minute but Jared’s eyes were caught in Jensen’s.  Jensen was staring at him, appraising him almost and he could feel Jeff’s humor at his side, his smile opening and turning into a small laugh.

Jared could feel himself blushing under the eyes of the head of the Queen’s Guard but he held his own until Jensen finally gave him a small smile.  “Alright, let’s go.”

 

 

 

The Davenport promised to get them to Wakeview by mid afternoon the next day so they made their way to the port and their things were happily stowed in time for the midnight departure.  The Davenport was a cruise ship with more than 600 passengers and 50 crew members.  With the time difference from one planet to the next, it meant there were planned activities at all hours of the day and people awake to participate in them. 

Jensen went to his quarters as soon as they were on the ship.  As the Captain of the Queen’s Guard he was the most likely to be spotted by anyone in on the Vice Minister’s plan.  He argued that they were all too visible, especially after the events of the Hall, but Jeff pointed out they were just part of the Guard while people looked up to Jensen.  In the end, they won out because Jensen had to see the sense in keeping his face hidden but they needed to be on the look out for anyone that might be involved with the Vice Minister.

Misha took off on his own, wandering the ship’s interior, leaving Jeff and Jared to meander through the deck and see what they could find.  They walked together a few minutes, then one of them would branch off, find someone to talk to, before they continued on their way together again. 

Jared didn’t know much about the King’s Guard but he’d learned a lot about the Vice Minister.  He’d always thought him to be trustworthy, though his mother had other opinions.  He hated that she was right.  He hated that while he couldn’t look for familiar faces, he could still take his mother’s training and learn about the people around them, see if anything seemed out of place as he made his way across the deck.   

It took them a few hours to cover the deck and head back around, but Jared managed to get some useful information for just a few minutes of heavy flirting.  When he’d gone back to Jeff, the older man had raised an eyebrow but hadn’t said anything.  Jared wasn’t about to explain himself, or his methods, to Jeff.

When the ship finally set off from the port they were all free to relax a little.  As Jared walked into the bar he was surprised to see Jeff and Misha already at a table to one side of the room, while Jensen was nursing a bottle of something in a booth at the back.  Jared smiled and flirted his way around the room, ignoring Jensen and the heavy weight of his eyes, as he came over to join Jeff and Misha.  He remembered Jensen’s previous admonishment at the Hall about drinking alone.    

Jeff smiled affectionately at him as he got to the table.  “What?”

“Your mom taught you all that then?” he asked, waving his hand at the way Jared had been moving through the crowd.  Misha was watching Jeff closely, the seriousness that he’d held in the arena long gone since his reunion with Jensen and Jeff at the dock.

“Yeah,” Jared said with a half laugh.  “She said people don’t know half of what they actually know and all you have to do is know how to listen.”

“Who the hell was your mother?” Misha asked softly.

“Sharondra, the Queen’s Handmaiden,” Jeff answered in admiration.  “And the head of her dea’kin.”

Misha’s eyes widened and the chair he’d been leaning back on plopped heavily to all four legs as he stared at Jared.

“She took the name of her husband when she left the Queen’s service.  She is simply Sharon Padalecki now.”  Jared looked down at the reverence they spoke her name, and while he knew his history, it was one thing to know and another to be confronted by men who would have worked with her kind first hand.

The Queen’s Guard might be the Queen’s protection from the enemies of the Empire, but there were lots of enemies, foreign and domestic.  Known to only a few, the Queen had another level of protection; the dea’kin, those sworn to protect with body and mind and soul.  His mother had been one of them, a beautiful child picked from a poor household to become the most honored dea’kin in their history.  She was the only one to have even been given leave of her position to take on a husband and family of her own. 

While the Guard was honor and duty, a show of truth and honest and complete adoration for the Queen, the dea’kin was the underside.  They were a small group of men and women who were trained in the arts of espionage, seduction, and assassination.  Jared had no misunderstanding about who his mother was and what she was capable of.  She had groomed him in her own fashion, training him in her own arts when he had been too young to understand.  As he’d grown he’d continued with her lessons but his love for the Guard became his focus and she laughed on more than one occasion that her own love for his father had tainted his heart and turned him into a Queen’s man instead of the dea’kin he was to become.

To the world though, Sharondra had been a simple handmaiden, one of the Queen’s personal confidants and childhood friends.  No one knew about the existence of the Queen’s assassins, except the head of the Queen’s Guard.  And apparently his friends.

“Well that explains why you said I should run him over,” Misha said with a grin.

“Wait.  You did that on purpose?”

“Your mom didn’t teach you about coincidence?”

“My mom and dad taught me to trust the Queen’s Guard,” Jared said with a shake of his head.

Jeff winked.  “I did learn a thing or two from your mother.”

“So that puts you in the trust you as far as I can throw you category?” Jared asked as he took a sip of his drink, relaxing as Misha got up for another.  He needed a distraction from the current topic.  It wasn’t that the world at large didn’t know about assassins or the different types of training they received, but he didn’t want the men he was with to dwell on his own training too much.

“What’s his story anyway?” he asked, using Misha’s exit to change the subject.  Besides, he needed to know more about the men he was with and while there were subtle ways of digging for the information, he didn’t want the others to think he’d go behind their backs for that.  He would if he needed to and he was fairly certain he could manage it, but he didn’t want to.    

“What do you mean?”

“He was so serious in the arena and as he was leaving the Hall.”

Jeff nodded.  “He’s Ardacian.”

“The only Ardacians who leave the planet are missionaries,” Jared said, thinking aloud, something his mother discouraged except when you wanted the people with you to comment on your thoughts.  Jared did it more than he should, he supposed, but then he trusted more readily than his mother would like as well.  She never understood that his biggest asset in gaining information was his ability to put information out there, to put his emotions out there, and see where it led.  He was trained well by her, but that didn’t mean they shared the same style of trust building.  “What happened to make him leave behind the religious collar?  It’s unheard of.”

“Misha was head of an Ardacian mission that was protesting the use of violence in politics.  They were staging a sit in at the Port Authority to get as much visibility as they could.   Now no one knows where the orders came from but someone decided the best way to keep Ardacians out of the Empire was by showing them they wouldn’t be tolerated.  The King’s Guard was sent in with orders to use extreme prejudice.  You know how the Ardacians hate violence so they didn’t even try to stop them.  When the Queen found out she sent us in, but they were already done for.  A few of the Ardacians died of shock in the prison cells they’d been taken.  A few never woke again and those that did have never spoken.  They returned to their home world and never left.  The Queen spent two years trying to right that wrong, working with the Ardacian council until they trusted her again.”

“And Misha?”

“Like I said, he was the head of the Ardacian mission so the Guard took a special interest in him.  When we found him they had been using electric blades on him, numbing parts of his body, electrifying some, and just bleeding the hell out of him.  They had him in a cell and he was pressed to the corner, almost animalistic in the way he watched the men in there.  We got him out, took care of the men that were hurting him, but Misha got a knife and he attacked one of the men.   Jensen stopped him from killing anyone but it was a close thing.  He got him out of there and got him to the hospital.  He took to meditation as soon as he was healed enough and when we went back to visit two months later he was working sword forms with a dedication I’ve rarely seen.”

“Ardacians are known for their absolute devotion.”

Jeff nodded.  “And Misha re-devoted his life.  The only thing that means anything to him now is his life debt.”

Jared gasped at that and Jeff nodded again.  “He’ll kill if he has to, but it’s to protect and serve, not because he wants to hurt someone.  Jensen saved him from that in that cell and Misha bound himself to protect Jensen from that day on.  Jensen hates it, sends him away as often as he can.”

“That’s what Jensen meant when he asked if Misha gave you to him.”

“Yeah.  He was in my keeping.  Thing is, if anything ever happened to Jensen on my watch, Misha would kill me and I know it.  No matter that we’ve fought side by side for ten years now.  It would only matter that I let Jensen die.  So if you ever get handed Jensen, know what it means to accept it.”

Jared looked over at the corner table where Jensen sat drinking.  He wasn’t alone anymore; a beautiful girl sat at his side and a tall young man was leaning over to whisper in his ear.  He realized Jensen was watching him, licking his lips at whatever the young man was saying. 

Jared knew he could stop it.  He saw the invitation in Jensen’s eyes but he couldn’t make that leap with the Queen’s man.  It was tempting and he had to suppress a shudder at the though of the other man pressed up against him, but he knew he had to be careful.  He already felt a strong connection to Jensen.  He, of all people, had to think this sort of thing through carefully.  He dropped his eyes, just a fraction and then Jensen was moving away from the tables and back to his room, the girl wrapped under his arm and the young man at his back.  Jared groaned and Misha laughed as he sat a bottle in front of Jared.

“No worries lad,” he said softly.  “Jensen drinks alone.  He also sleeps alone.  They’ll be gone long before we have to deal with it in the morning.”

They drank hard then, a strong bond forming between the three as they laughed and joked, talked about where they were going, the world they’d seen, and the gossip Jared picked up as part of his trade. 

When he went to bed that night, alone by choice, he couldn’t help but think of Jensen.  He was in the room next door and as he looked at the wall, Jared cursed his mother’s training.  Because of it, he knew exactly where Jensen was in relation to Jared, he also knew all the different ways Jensen could be touched, the ways that his two lovers could be moving with him.  He pressed his eyes closed and pressed his hand down on his growing erection.  He needed to think about this, to understand where his heart was leading him, if it was his heart at all.  It could just be blatant hero worship for the head of the Queen’s Guard, but then the image appeared of Jensen’s lips as he licked them, the way his eyes had called to Jared from across the room.  Jared slid his hand under the sheets and wrapped his fingers around himself, stroking slowly.  He came with Jensen’s name on his lips and the indelible knowledge that he was royally screwed.  Yeah, pun fucking well intended. 

 

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The next morning Jared made his way back to the main cabin to get something to eat.  Misha and Jeff were both at a table already.  Jeff had a full plate in front of him, eating like he had no choice while Misha sat beside him, smiling at Jeff’s pain as if he hadn’t tried to drink the both of them under the table last night.  Jared let his own worries go as he realized Jensen wasn’t with them yet and he smiled at them.  “Morning.”

Jeff groaned and Misha frowned.  “You look unusually bright this morning,” Misha commented.

Jared smiled.  “Never try to out drink the dea’kin.  You’ll never win. ”

“And they never drink half as much as they let you think they did.”  Jensen said as he leaned between them, setting a full plate in front of Jared. 

Jared scowled slightly at the intrusion but decided against commenting.  Jensen had his own plate that he set down and tucked into, and Jared did the same, deciding discretion was the better part of valor in his attempt to keep Jensen Ackles from getting any further under his skin.

Jeff smirked into his food as though he could see the retreat Jared was making and Misha just scowled for a second before letting it go.  “So we should be docking in another seven hours,” Misha finally commented. 

Jared paused in his eggs and bacon, watching as Jeff pushed his plate away and Jensen wiped at too plump lips.  Jared ignored the need to look harder, to clearly see the mark that could be a shadow against the cloth at his neck - except that it didn’t move with the fabric at all. 

“We need to find out when the DreamWalker is leaving.”

“It can only be from the Shangtu main port.  They’re the only port that has free passage to Buenota.”  Jeff offered up.

“DreamWeaver is captained by Gordon Walker.  He’s as superstitious as they come, and thinks its bad luck to fly into the galactic winds with a full moon at his back,” Jared offered quietly.  “With the three moons of Shangtu, it means he can only fly out between four and eight in the morning planet side and Walker is known for leaving as soon as he can set his sails.”

Jeff smirked and Misha looked downright impressed.  Jensen looked him up and down, as if assessing him again.  He stood, not liking the way Jensen was taking him in one bit.  Or maybe liking it too much for comfort.   He grabbed his plate and looked at the three of them.  “I do know more productive ways to spend my time than wenching and drinking in the evenings,” he chided as he walked away. 

He dropped his plate in the bin, no longer hungry, but remembered to smile at the pretty little cook’s assistant.   She came over to take the bin and he grabbed it up for her, following her back into the kitchen to help.  Jensen was too damn far under his skin and she was just what he needed to forget about him.  When she pulled him back into one of the small cupboards and closed the door he let her.  “So you gonna be traveling with me on Gordon’s ship, right?” she asked as her strong fingers began to pull at the fastenings of his pants. 

He dropped his head back against the wall.  This hadn’t been the plan when he came down for breakfast, but there was only so much he could take.  Jensen sitting beside him, skin bruised from the night before, was just too much.  He needed to get Jensen out of his mind and she was more than willing to help.  “Maybe, sounds like he could be headed where I need to go next.  Just,” he let out a deep breath as he grabbed her thighs, lifting her tiny weight like it was nothing.  With his back against the wall she pulled her skirts out of the way and he was sinking into her magnificent heat.  “Stars, yeah.”

She grinned and then there were no more words spoken.  When he finally backed them out of the cupboard, she stretched up to kiss his cheek lightly, her skirts dropping back down her thighs.   He let a blush tinge his cheeks, no longer cursing his mother’s careful training as the assistant sashayed away from him, none the wiser of his true intentions.

He avoided the others off and on for the rest of the morning, taking time to speak with the other passengers.  He felt them out for the state of affairs of the kingdom, of their home planets, and talked to them about their travels.  He let them talk about whatever crossed their minds and in the end he knew he was fairly safe on the ship. 

He joined the others for lunch and felt himself ready to burst with impatience.

“Do you have a plan yet, Jensen, before the young one blows himself up?” Jeff asked with a wink at Jared.

Jared ignored it in favor of focusing on Jensen.  Jensen shrugged.  “We need to get to the port and scope out the area.  Unless you happen to know the layout of the spaceport off the top of your head?” Jensen asked. 

Jared gave a sharp shake of his head and Jensen continued.  “Then we get to the port as quick as we can and scope out the situation.  We need to find a way to keep the Princess off that ship, or to get her off once she’s on.  Ideas?”

“The cook’s assistant is transferring to the DreamWalker.  I could get into the kitchens easy enough and put something in the food or drink of the crew.”

“Only works if everyone eats at the same time.”  Misha commented.

Jared scowled.  Like he wouldn’t have his bases covered.  “The captain starts every journey with a toast to the crew before he lets anyone on board.”

“How the hell do you know all this?” Misha finally asked.

“Cook’s assistant.”

“She knows a lot for a cook.”

Jared smiled.  “Most do, but she’s also Trained.  Mund’da I would say,” he offered as the others stared at him.  “All sex and little subtlety.  She doesn’t know that I’m dea’kin and won’t until it’s too late.”

Jeff’s eyes hardened.  “What do you plan on doing to her?”

Jared shook his head as he took a long drink of his water.  It was amazing what people could think of you once they knew what you were trained for.  No, not just knowing, but actually seeing him use it.  Of all the disciplines a spy could take, rumor said the dea’kin were the most extreme, the most willing to use violence at the end of the day, and the least likely to leave a trace of themselves behind.  It was true because no other discipline was studied for the sole practice of protection.  The other disciplines of the Trained did it for their own end, their own goals, but the dea’kin chose their own numbers and they were dedicated to doing whatever it took to protect. 

 “Nothing,” he answered evenly.  “Either she’s very poorly trained or she has no interest in the Queen’s Guard.  I got what I needed from her.  Getting caught in whatever we do to the crew of the ship will be more than enough punishment for her.  Is that a problem, Jeff?”

Jeff’s eyes softened then and Jared took a deep breath.  He knew how hard it was for people to trust the Trained, to understand the lines that they had to draw.  Jared hadn’t made any kind of declaration to the men with him, hadn’t explained his own beliefs or how his training played into his need to become a Queen’s Guard.  He gave them no reason to trust him and yet they were.  Jeff trusted because of his mother, though it was obvious that was beginning to lose its value in the face of Jared’s skill.  Misha was following Jensen, but the other man was holding true to taking Jared along with them, for no reason Jared could understand.  He tried not to think that just maybe he was getting under Jensen’s skin too.

Jeff nodded.  “No.”  He took a deep breath, glancing Jensen’s way before looking back at Jared.  “Look kid, I’ve got no issues with the Trained.  Just like to know which side of the sword I’m looking at.”

Jared nodded, holding his hand out to Jeff.  Seduction was something he could do as easy as breathing but this was something else.  Offering his hand in friendship wasn’t telling them everything, but it was something he could give Jeff.  If he’d worked with the Trained before it would calm his misgivings and give them both back a measure of the comfort that they’d developed the night before.  Jeff held his hand out and Jared curled his fingers slightly into the other man’s, a sign of friendship that his kind only shared in truth, never deceit.  “I’m here to join the Queen’s Guard.  I heard those men talking about Princess Danneel just as I told you and I followed you to help put her on the throne.  Whatever else I am, whatever else I may do, those things are true and nothing else comes before that.”

The relief in Jeff’s eyes was instantaneous and he wondered briefly if he’d worked with other Trained before or just had a strong knowledge of them.    

“So then, we scope out the port and see if we can stop them before they ship out.  If not, we let Jared drug the crew and take it from there.  Any questions?” Jeff asked with a smile.

Jensen and Misha were looking between the two of them and Jared just smiled.  “Yeah, where’s the beer?”

 

 

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The port was as chaotic as all space ports were and after repeat viewing they were in agreement that the best bet was to let the abductors take the Princess on board.  Jared’s use of a sleeping agent worked perfectly and the crew was knocked out and hidden in the bows of a derelict ship next to it.  They would be long gone before the sleeping crew woke and no one was likely to go looking for them aboard the other ship.  Misha managed to get a hold of the passenger list and found out that the entire vessel had been rented out for the Princess which just made their job easier.

 “So, we’re stealing the Princess back and the ship with her?” Jared asked as they settled in for the wait.  They’d gotten rid of their uniforms and were dressed in shipmen’s clothes.  Jensen moved across the deck and sat next to Jared as he tried to ignore how damn good he looked dressed in regular street clothes.    

“You do know how to sail, right?” Jensen asked. 

Jared smirked at the notion of that, being unable to captain a ship out of port with his training.  “Wake me up when it’s time,” were the words he chose to address the issue though.  Jensen laughed at his side and something in Jared warmed a little at the sound of it.  He squirmed with the knowledge of how irrefutable it was all becoming but he closed his eyes instead.  He’d denied destiny his whole life, became the man he wanted to be, and blood and training couldn’t make him anything else.  It wasn’t true but he’d hoped, damn it, a part of him had still held out the hope that it could.  With Jensen sitting beside him, the bond between them settling as easy as could be, wrapping around bone and sinew and pulling tight, he could only close his eyes and pray to the Stars that they got out of all this before Jensen realized what was happening and just who Jared really was.

He didn’t try to sleep though and he was sure the others knew he wasn’t as well.  He should immerse himself in the plan to save the Princess, to devote himself to the impressions and experiences of the past two days but he couldn’t.  He’d failed the night before and it was no better sitting on the deck. 

He was having trouble finding the calm of reflection and he knew it was because of Jensen, sitting close enough that their shoulders brushed together every few minutes.  He thought about getting up but the other two had watched as Jensen moved to his side and sat with him, as if making it obvious that even without his pledge of friendship, he still trusted Jared.  It was a touching gesture and one Jared wouldn’t refute just to give himself the semblance of peace.  Not when he was sure Jensen Ackles being on the boat was just as distracting as him being within reach. 

Since Jared was too caught up in his mind to get any semblance of order he tuned his senses into the other man.  It wasn’t the best choice to make, he knew, but since he couldn’t think of anything else he might as well use the time to figure that out.

Not that Jared didn’t know what ‘that’ was.  He’d been only a boy of ten when his mother had taken him aside and explained why she had been chosen to walk away from the life she’d once known to raise him.  He knew who he was and what his place in life was supposed to be, but it was that same conversation that had led him to see the love that Sharondra dea’kin had for her husband and how the Queen’s Guard had given her a life she’d never hoped to have before that.  He’d vowed to himself then to become more like that man, to someday live the life he’d had.  At least until duty made him take the other role.

Now he was faced with both and he didn’t know what to do with it.  He let out a deep sigh and felt Jensen shift beside him, their shoulders pressing together lightly in an unconscious giving of comfort that Jared knew Jensen didn’t understand.  He felt the small chuckle beside him and shook his head, grinning without meaning too.  Alright, so he did know.  Jensen was no dea’kin, but he could read Jared as if he was.

“You’re about as subtle as a supernova sometimes,” Jensen said softly.  “Doesn’t take the Trained to know when something’s eating away at you.  That thing between you and Jeff was just part of it.”

“And the thing with you last night?”

Jensen sighed but didn’t lean away.  “Just an invitation you apparently didn’t want to accept.  Don’t make more out of it than that, boy.  We’re here to do a job and get the Princess to safety, hopefully not get injured, and have a little fun in the meantime.  That’s what we do.”

Jared let out a sigh of relief.  If it was nothing more than that he could handle it.  He could take Jensen’s heated looks and the trust and the building need and find a way to push it all back into a corner.  Just so long as the growing connection on Jared’s part remained one-sided. 

 

 

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“Captain Walker?”  The voice rang across the deck with an echoing boom.  The four am departure time guaranteed them a deserted pier and the darkness took the voice and warped it until it was gone. 

No one answered the call, each of the Queen’s Guard hidden at his post, waiting for the right moment to spring into action.  The party came further aboard, six men, none of whom Jared recognized and a pretty little princess complete with a fan covering her face where the veil of her hat didn’t.  It allowed her to give her smile away, to acknowledge deeds and to reprimand with the down turn of her lips.  It was a subtle way to rule interactions by hiding away the full effect of her features. 

He watched the way her face moved slightly and she knew something was wrong.  He could see her lean backwards slightly, as if to run when the time came.    

“You said eight men and one woman.  The fee doesn’t change.  I had hoped for eight though.  It’s more fun that way,” Jeff said as he stepped into the open deck of the ship.  He had a hat pulled down low so no one could really see his face but just a glimpse of him was enough to know he didn’t have the right skin tone for the captain they’d contracted for the journey. 

“Who are you?” the man at point asked.

Jeff tipped his hat up and smiled charmingly.  “Just your local delivery man here to make sure the Princess gets where she needs to be.”

“Queen’s Guard,” one of the men hissed and Jared watched as the Princess took a step closer to her kidnappers, like she wanted out of their hands, just so long as it wasn’t back into the hands of her own personal guard.  Jared filed the information away for later because swords were being drawn and Jared was being asked to draw against the King’s Guard in a serious confrontation.  There would be no modified blades or hard hitting shocks.  This was for blood.

“One against six?” the men laughed softly and Jeff laughed with them.

“Yes it does seem unfair.  Even more so when I tell you it’s actually four against six.”

They stepped out of their positions then, Misha and Jared on either side of the deck and Jensen coming up the plank behind them.  The King’s Guard surged forward with one man moving towards the Princess before Jensen was intercepting him, moving the Princess out of danger and past the men that were facing off.   Jensen got her to the ship and Jared grabbed her, pushing her behind him.  They were facing six men with the Princess at their backs. 

It really wasn’t much of a fight and though Jared managed to down one of the King’s men, the others were handled before he had his one man down.  He put his sword back in his hip holster and turned just as she was about to make a run for the boarding plank.

He grabbed her quickly and pulled her back.  “Where exactly are you going my Princess?” he asked with a smile.

She glared, jerking out of his hands.  “How dare you touch me!”

“How dare you try to run away!”

“Princess,” Jensen stepped between them and Jared knew he was trying to save him from getting in more trouble with the Princess.  He took the moment to back up, watching Misha’s wide eyes before he turned back to the Princess and Jensen.  “You are safe with us now.  The journey to your coronation will take four days.  Please know that we will do everything in our power to keep you safe.  The accommodations are not up to a Princess’s standards but I’m sure you understand that getting you safely back to your people is far more important than mere convenience.”

She flipped her fan open and glared from behind the veil but Jensen simply smiled at her as he continued.  “My name is Jensen Ackles, the head of your Guard.  With me is Jeff Morgan, Misha Collins, and you have already spoken words with our young friend Jared Padalecki.”

The fan snapped closed at Jared’s name and the Princess nodded to Jensen.  “I would like to see my quarters now.  It has been a long few days and I need to rest before I can think anymore on it.” 

Jensen bowed but it was Jeff who stepped up to lead her.  She walked with him but stepped closer to Jared as they were moving past him.  Before the others knew what was happening, she smacked Jared across the face with her fan.  The fan was edged with blades and he moved with it, to keep the cuts small but she was fast and well trained.  He knocked the fan from her hand then and blocked when a fist came his way.  He grabbed her wrist and pinned it behind her back before grabbing the other one. 

When he had her secured she started screaming.  “Let me go you ignorant oaf of a boy!  Don’t you get it?  I don’t want it.  I don’t want it and you can’t make me go back there.”  He let her loose and she spun in his arms, eyes wide and desperate.  “You don’t want me to go back,” she pleaded.  “I know you don’t.  I know what you want and you don’t want this.  If I don’t go back we’re both free.”  She brought a hand up to his face and he breathed deeply, his anger turning soft at the calming touch of her skin on his.  “Jared, if I don’t go, you don’t have that duty either.”

Jared pulled back quickly and his eyes turned hard as he pushed her back against the cabin wall.  She gasped and his towering presence made the anger in her reappear.  “You will go back and do your duty little Princess,” he said softly, “just as I will do mine.”

Her eyes moved to the blood trickling down his cheek and her face flushed.  She dropped her eyes then, her manner downcast and frightened, but there was nothing of either in the rest of her demeanor. 

“I wondered if the name Padalecki would mean something to you.”  He walked away then, needing to stop the bleeding from her blades.  He grabbed the damn fan from the floor, tossing it back her way.  “You’re well trained,” he said without looking back.

“By the best,” was her answer.  He didn’t say anything else.  He knew where she had her training.  No one else worked a steel bladed fan like Sharondra dea’kin. 

 

 

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“So, it’s that easy?” Misha asked as they sat at the Captain’s table by the helm.  They’d agreed to spend their free time there in the wheelhouse when possible since one of them had to be there at all times to monitor the situation.

They were in the middle of no where, traveling on unused paths, with the energy banks for the ships lifeboats keyed up for the use of the Guard but not the Princess herself.  She was truly stuck on the ship.  If she managed to get out of her quarters without them knowing, and even Jared hadn’t been able to find a way for her to get out once they’d sealed it up tight, she would have no where else to turn but them.

“We just took the Princess and we take her to the coronation and all is done?” Misha finished. 

Jeff sighed and took a long pull from his bottle.  “No.  Next we’ve got to get her to talk.  She doesn’t want to go back and no matter how hard we press her about the coronation, no one can make her take the oaths of a Queen.  Not even the dea’kin can do that.”

Their eyes were on Jared then, on his cheek where the small thin cuts were already healing.  “I don’t want to have to, but I can and I will if that’s what it takes.”

“And then you’ll do your duty,” Jensen added, his voice dangerously low.  His eyes caught Jared’s and the slow tug that had caught him the night on the passenger cruiser hit strong again.  “What exactly is your duty, Jared?”

Jared stood slowly, deliberately, before turning to walk out.  The ship was silent around him and he did the only thing he could; he crawled to the highest point, the loneliest, darkest part of the ship, and curled into himself there.  He fell back into his mind, where there was no spoiled Princess, no dea’kin, no Guard, and no Jensen pushing at him.  It was just Jared, nine years old and happy before the press of the world changed who he was supposed to be forever.

 

 

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It didn’t take much for Jared to see it.  He watched Jeff the first day after he talked to the Princess and he was fairly certain it had already happened.  By that evening he was sure of it.  The next day he couldn’t ignore it.  Neither Jensen nor Misha said anything about the way Jeff kept to the Princess’s side whenever she left her quarters, but Jared saw the way they stared after him.  They didn’t know what to think of the change in Jeff, nor did they know what to think of the Princess once she started looking to the older man for safety.

She was back in her quarters, resting she said, but Jared knew better.  If it was him he’d be plotting how to escape once they got to port.  He was working it out in his head anyway, trying to counter anything she might do.  Misha was at the helm at the moment and Jensen and Jeff were sitting at the table behind it.

He wasn’t sure now was the time for it, but he could see the way it was playing out and he needed to be sure Jeff understood.  He took a deep breath and leaned back against the wall, hoping to give off a calmer vibe than he was actually feeling.

“You know what she’s doing, don’t you?”

They all looked back at him, but Jared kept his eyes on Jeff.  To his credit, Jeff blinked for a moment but kept his face completely neutral.  If he hadn’t known Jeff for the past few days he wouldn’t think anything of it, but there was no laughter on his lips, no smile in his eyes.  Jeff nodded once.

“She explained it last night.  Why me?”  He asked softly.  “I mean, of all people she could…”

“What are you two talking about?” Jensen demanded.

Jared continued to ignore the others.  “We don’t know why.  Once the bond gets deep enough though you can’t stop it.  The royal family has always chosen its spouses in that manner.  The story that’s passed down says that Surgotian Mystics blessed the King and Queen so that their offspring would never have to fear for their heart, that the bond would give them the security of knowing that their beloved was beyond reproach.  There’s no proof in the history books, but I don’t doubt the bond.”

“What bond?” Misha asked.

“The royal family has a spousal bond that ties them to their soul mate.  It starts slow, like a small tug to make you notice someone.  It gets bigger, pulls you towards them, makes you trust them and they you.  I’ve heard it can be strong enough that two people can read minds but no one living has witnessed that.  The dea’kin believes it though.  The bond with the royal family is unbreakable and irrefutable.  There are no wedding vows, just the bond,” he said, careful to keep his eyes on Misha’s, careful not to look even in the periphery to see Jensen’s reaction, “a bond that Danneel and Jeff now share.”

Misha’s face was openly surprised but Jared barely had time to register it before Jensen was in front of him, his fist connecting with Jared’s jaw before he could block it.  Jeff and Misha had him pushed back before Jared responded, but he wouldn’t have stopped him if he’d taken another swing. 

“When were you planning on telling us, huh?” Jensen seethed.  He pushed away from Jeff and Misha but took a step back from Jared.  “Why the lies, Jared?”

The others looked shocked but the Princess chose that moment to enter the room and they all looked at her instead.  “Why did you tell him?” she demanded of Jared, her cool voice full of reprimand.  Jared stood taller, ignoring the way Jeff moved to her side, as if to protect her from him. 

“I didn’t tell him anything.  No more than you would have had to tell Jeff.”

Her eyes widened and her demeanor softened. She watched him for a few minutes and he could see when she understood the full weight of his words.   When she stepped closer, her fingers traced the red mark where Jensen’s fist had connected.  “Oh, Jared,” she sighed softly.  “What are we going to do?”

When she folded up into his chest, he wrapped his arms around her, keeping her close as he buried his nose in her hair, allowing himself the small moment.  “I have no idea little sister, but we’ll see it through together.  I didn’t train all these years to let you down now.”

“Is that the Queen’s Guard talking?” she asked softly.

He sighed as he looked up at the other men in the room.  He wanted to say yes, wanted to be a part of that so much but he knew he had to take his place.  They were kindred spirits, Danneel and he, separated at birth and hidden from one another so that no one, not even their father, could ever use Jared to contest the throne, and neither pleased with the forced positions of their lives. 

“If this is the Queen asking, then this is the head of your dea’kin talking.  When you take the throne it will be with me at your side, as it was always supposed to be.”

“I don’t know if I can,” she paused as she looked up, “I don’t want-“

“But you will.  And I will.  We are who we are Dani,” he said, brushing the hair off her face, “our duty, our destiny is bound and though we both pretended it could be otherwise, you will take the throne when father’s mourning period is over.”

She pushed away softly then, tear-filled eyes watching him.  She nodded though and it warmed him to think he’d managed to get through to her, that with even the small time they’d had together they’d managed to connect with one another.  “I need time to think.”

“We have a few more days before we arrive.”  She nodded and started to leave but he touched her wrist gently, getting her to stop.  “And don’t think I won’t stop you if you try to escape again.  I’ve already got your plan worked out in my head.”

She looked surprised for a second, then pulled a fan from her pocket and snapped it over her face, tilting it coyly to smile at him.  “We shall see big brother.  We shall see.”

He watched her leave then, even trailed behind her to the door to watch the way she moved around the ship. 

“Jared, I need to go after her,” he heard Jeff after a few minutes.  The man looked ready to bulldoze his way through Jared but he was asking and Jared didn’t know if it was professionalism, friendship, or the realization that he was a Prince that caused it.  He hated the doubt and for the first time in his life he knew why the Queen lamented never finding her own bondmate, settling on a marriage of politics instead.  He had only been outed as a prince for a few minutes and he already doubted his friend’s motives.

“Of course,” he said, moving back into the room. 

Jeff stopped just outside the door though, coming back to look at them.  “Jensen, how did you know he was a Prince?”

“The Princess wasn’t the only one that decided to bond themselves a Guardsman this trip.”

He didn’t look at Jared, but walked out the other door as Jeff shook his head and went after the Princess.  It left Jared sitting alone at the helm with Misha.

Misha looked him over once and shook his head before smiling.  “You really know how to keep a man on his toes, Dea’kin.”

Jared let himself smile just a little.  At least Misha wasn’t changed over it. 

“If you get him killed, I will end you, but I like you anyway.”

Okay, maybe he could ask for a little change.

 

 

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Jared didn’t leave the wheelhouse, just sat with Misha as they talked about whatever came to mind.  There was a comfortable silence around them most of the night though and Jared could appreciate that.  The Ardacians were well known for their meditative forms and Jared had learned them all at a young age.  Being able to meditate while focused on something like navigating through clear skies was intermediate though  and Jared had long passed on to the master levels. 

“You’d do well with the monks,” Misha commented with a small smile.

Jared gave him a warm smile in return.  “I should.  They taught me.  I wasn’t very old when I started training on meditation and observation.”

“It should have tipped you off on how to handle Jensen better.”

Jared sighed.  “Yeah well, he makes it hard to concentrate.”

“Really?” 

He could see Misha’s genuine curiosity.  At Jared’s skill level nothing should have been able to keep him from focusing but the bond wasn’t Ardacian and they had no way of helping him overcome that level of distraction.  “Ever get an itch you can’t scratch?  It’s like that.  Only it’s what it feels like when you notice the itch and you haven’t been able to get to it in days.  In the beginning it forces you to focus on that, to submerge yourself into it.”

“Why?”

“To make it deeper.  The more time and energy you spend on the bond, the deeper it gets.”

“It only took Jeff and the Princess a night to bond.”

“Less.  He was at her side as soon as we had the kidnappers down.  It was almost immediate with those two.”

“Then why did it take so long for you and Jensen?”

“Danneel is a romantic.  She was probably fed the same things I was as a child, how wonderful the bond is and how powerful it is.  I’m not the Queen though, I’m dea’kin.  I was raised to know anyone I got close to could be a target used against me.  I make an effort to keep a distance between myself and any lover I take, just in case.  I actively fight it and when I realized it was happening here, I tried even harder to stop it.”

“Why? Jensen is always going to be a target to anyone who wants to get close the Queen, even more so as the head of the Queen’s Guard than you are.  His safety won’t be affected by your bond.”

Jared laughed bitterly.  “We’re on a mission to rescue my sister from kidnappers and return her to a coronation for a crown she doesn’t want to accept.  If she does, I’m supposed to step up and be the head of her dea’kin when all I’ve ever wanted to be was the Queen’s Guard.  And the last thing I want to do is find myself tied to the head of the Queen’s Guard who will probably hate me for what I do, or that I might come to resent for who he is.”

“You think Jensen would hate you?”

“I’m a highly trained spy and assassin.  He’s an honorable soldier who will die defending the Queen and her kingdom,” Jared scoffed.  “Damn right he’ll grow to hate what I am.  And I’ll resent that he’s Queen’s Guard when I never was.”

“I got this one Misha.”

Jared closed his eyes and took a deep breath at the sound of Jensen’s voice.  When he looked up Misha gave him a half smile and he knew then Jensen hadn’t just walked up and Jared had no idea how long he’d been there. 

Misha walked out and Jared was left watching as Jensen moved to the console and began checking the instruments to make sure they were going where they were supposed to.  Jared knew he was at fault for losing track of time with Misha, but he was sure the Ardacian timed his questions so that it would lead up to this just as Jensen was coming up for his shift.

Nothing he said was untrue though.  They had too much going on to get caught up in the type of bond that was building between them, even if Jared knew it was already too late to stop it. 

Jensen turned away from the sensors then and took a seat across the table from Jared.  “How’s your jaw?”

“Why?  Wanna hit me again if it doesn’t hurt badly enough?”

“Maybe,” Jensen said with a sly grin.  “Maybe I was gonna offer to kiss it better.”

Jared snorted at that.  “Yeah I get how that would be high on your priorities right now.”

“So you’re gonna continue to play the martyr.  Got it.” Jensen snapped.  “Why don’t you go get some sleep before it’s actually your turn up here.”

“I’m not playing anything.”

“Yeah I get it Jared.  Woe is you, poor Prince-ling can’t get away from his fate and now he’s being hogtied to a commoner.  I get your concern.”

“What?”

“I don’t need the bullshit Jared.” Jensen said as he stood.  “I didn’t ask for this bond but I’m stuck with it and I can accept that, but I won’t be stuck with some arrogant ass who thinks he knows who I am but doesn’t have a damned clue.”

Jared took a deep breath to try to steady himself.  He knew he couldn’t think clearly with Jensen around, knew that his observational skills were less than they should be.  The bond was complicating things, making him too aware of Jensen being near but not aware enough of anything else. 

“Then tell me where I was wrong.  Are you telling me you don’t hate the dea’kin?  That you don’t think I’ll resent this?”

“I don’t know what you’ll resent, Jared.  I know that I don’t hate what you are.  I’m the head of the Queen’s Guard.  I’ve known and worked with the dea’kin for years.  If I was going to hate them Queen Sam would never have given me this honor.  Misha and Jeff have a harder time dealing with it than I do but they’ve accepted you like you’re one of us.”

“Why?  Why do you accept this?” Jared asked as he stood up, facing off with Jensen.

“Because I’m a Queen’s man, and if it means keeping her safe then I don’t care who does it or how they do it.”

“And what about the bond?  Why accept that?”

Jensen moved quickly, pressing Jared back into the wall before he realized what he was doing.  He acted on instinct though, knowing whatever Jensen was doing wasn’t about hurting him anymore. 

“The moment I saw you I knew you were trouble.  You turned to look at me, so damn sure of yourself, and I wanted to say fuck it to the whole damn night, just take you away and spread you out underneath me.”  He leaned up, his lips brushing over Jared’s cheek.  “Every time I look at you I want the same damn thing.”

“Then do it,” Jared demanded.  Need burned through him and there was no suppressing the bond with Jensen this close to him.  He could feel the way Jensen’s heat pulled at him, drew him closer until it was searing into his bones. 

Jensen grabbed the back of his neck, crashing their lips together and it was like plunging into icy cold water.  He couldn’t breathe and didn’t care so long as Jensen was touching him.  He moaned into the kiss and Jensen’s tongue slid between his lips.  Jared tangled it up in his, his hands finding purchase on Jensen’s back as he pressed his hips against his lover’s. 

“Fuck,” Jensen moaned into the skin of his neck as he pulled back.

Jared let his head fall back against the wall and the coolness of it brought him back from the precipice that was the bond.  He bit his lip to stifle another groan when Jensen stepped away from him. 

“They should make a disclaimer for you people,” Jensen’s voice shook with need and it was everything he could do to stay where he was instead of moving to Jensen’s side and giving him everything.

“Not a very good way of keeping it secret.”

Jensen took a deep breath and moved back to the console, keeping his eyes down.  “How long will it be like this?”

It took Jared a moment to find his voice.  “The bond will be oversensitive for a while, maybe a year, but this?  This will pass as soon as the bond is consummated.”

“So once I fuck you I’ll be able to think straight again?”

“Stars, I hope so.”

“Get the hell out of here, Jared,” Jensen said after a few minutes.  “I’ll get Misha to take your shift at the helm.”

“I can-“

“No.  I’m not going into the coronation when I can barely trust myself to remember why I’m there.  We take care of this tonight.”

Jared closed his eyes and sighed.  “I tried to fight it, Jensen.”

Jensen nodded as he looked up at Jared.  “I know.  I think we both did.  But it’s done now and what you don’t seem to understand is that I’m not all that upset about the idea of spending years with you.  But right now, I need to focus on the ship and I can’t because you’re here.  So go to your quarters and I’ll be there as soon as Jeff comes to take the next shift.” 

He thought about all the things he could say to that, but there was nothing really.  He hadn’t given himself time to think about what bonding really meant to him, about what it would be like to be bonded to Jensen Ackles.  The man was beautiful and graceful, honest and loyal to a fault, and he was Jared’s to have, never to doubt or mistrust.  He would stand by his side no matter what happened in the world.  He had nothing to say to that, nothing that didn’t make the urge to cross the room seem less so he simply walked away, knowing somehow that Jensen understood.

 

 

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There were a lot of things Jared could do while waiting for Jensen, if only he could think of anything but the bond and the consummation.  He didn’t understand how Jensen could accept it so easily, but then again it was just Jared and his sister who seemed to be fighting so hard against their destinies.  Maybe Jensen even saw it as a way to do his job better, having an in with the new Queen. 

It wasn’t that though and Jared knew it.  Jensen was giving into the bond because it was him and stars didn’t that make the whole thing that much harder to resist.  He didn’t want to anymore, couldn’t anyway.  Jensen was going to walk through the door to his quarters and take him.  It didn’t matter if Jared was fighting it or not, he wanted Jensen so much that he wouldn’t be able to stop himself.

He took a deep breath as he made his decision.  He meditated for a while, not to get caught up in Danneel and her kingdom or the concerns of the dea’kin, but just to relax himself.  When his internal clock told him it was time, he pulled himself out of meditation and got in the shower, letting the warm water work its magic over tired muscles. 

When he stepped out of the small bathroom in his quarters the lights had been lowered and he wasn’t alone.  “You’re early.”

“I got tired of waiting.  Jeff came up early and I abandoned ship,” Jensen said as he stood up and moved closer to Jared.  “Say no now Jared, it’s the only chance you get.”

Jared took a deep breath, knowing how hard it was to even think about walking away and he thought even more of Jensen for being able to make that offer.  “Yes.”

Jensen was pushing him back into the wall then, his hands pulling Jared’s towel from his waist before his hands came up, pulling him back into a brutal kiss.  Jensen moaned into it and Jared slipped his tongue between Jensen’s lips, tasting him.  Their tongues tangled and Jared pulled him closer, his arms wrapped tight to keep their bodies together as he moved them over to his bed. 

Jared knew how to seduce a man, knew how to feel someone out to see what their buttons were, but there was nothing but desperate need between them so as he stopped at the side of his bed, he dropped his hands to Jensen’s shirt and pulled it over his head. 

The way Jensen stood for him, so perfectly still, slowed the desperation in Jared’s movements.  He took a deep breath as he dropped to his knees and undid the fastening of Jensen’s pants.  He leaned in, pressing his nose to the newly exposed skin just above his hipbone and pressed a kiss there as his hands worked his pants down strong thighs and shapely calves until Jensen stepped gracefully out of them. 

When Jared looked up the long expanse of Jensen’s body, Jensen brought one hand up to twine in his hair, something soft and affectionate in his eyes.  Jared leaned in closer, nuzzling up against Jensen’s skin for a moment before he needed more.  He turned his head slightly, then licked across the head of Jensen’s cock, feeling Jensen’s fingers gripping tighter as if to keep him close.  Jared pulled back as he licked his lips then and took Jensen’s length into his mouth. 

He’d never been one to abstain from the sensual, but this was nothing like he’d ever experienced.  He didn’t know if it was the bond or if Jensen was just so damn amazing, but just the taste of him, the feel of him on his tongue was enough to make him lose control.

He hollowed his cheeks out, taking more of Jensen down, feeling the minute tremors in his lover’s body, hearing the soft noises as he gasped.  He was lost in the sensation until Jensen pulled him away, his hands pulling Jared’s face back up to his and they were falling back onto the bed together.

Jensen pushed him onto his back and Jared went willingly.  Jensen’s lips pressed to his softly, his tongue teasing across the seam of his lips and Jared leaned up to catch him, but Jensen only pulled back, smiling down at him.  He’d seen the showman in Jensen, seen the head of the Queen’s Guard in his element, but he’d only seen a whisper of the playful side that Jensen was showing as a lover.  He moaned as Jensen bit at his neck, arching up and turning his head to give Jensen better access. 

“Stars, Jared,” Jensen’s voice was like molasses.  “Did you really think I could keep myself from you much longer?  Think we could have said no to this even if we’d wanted?”

“You talk too much,” Jared laughed out as he tried to pull Jensen down to his lips.

Jensen smirked, allowing himself to be guided down but not all the way.  “Think I’m the only one that will be talking tonight?” he asked wickedly.  “Think you won’t be begging for me in a few minutes?”

“If I just beg now will you get on with it?”

Jensen threw his head back, laughing before he leaned down, biting at Jared’s neck again, sucking at it until Jared was sure a bruise would appear.

He didn’t stop there but moved lower on Jared’s body.  Jensen’s lips skimmed over his skin, but then Jared felt the trail of cold, slick fingers against his thigh.  He didn’t know when Jensen had found the lube or how he’d missed that but his fingers were rambling across Jared’s skin and finally ghosted over his hole.  He arched back into the touch but Jensen didn't try to breach him.  One finger circled him, just playing across the tight muscles, pressing softly against him before pulling back to circle again.

“Jensen,” he gasped.

“Yes?”

“I hate you,” he whispered as Jensen pressed again, his body giving slightly and he felt the soft stretch of Jensen’s fingertip against his opening. 

Jensen laughed into his skin and Jared moaned as his finger continued to press into him.  “I know you do,” Jensen teased as he moved further down between Jared’s legs, blowing across Jared’s hole.  “Hate the way you open for me,” he said softly.  “Hate the way you arch up into me.”

He pulled his finger away and before Jared could protest he felt the soft swipe of Jensen’s tongue before it was pressed up into him.  It was the same slow torture of his finger, just the slow push of his tongue in and out.  His body gave way slowly and Jensen’s tongue slid in deeper, licking him open and Jared didn’t try to keep himself from begging.  Damn it, if it made Jensen take him he’d give up the damn throne to the kingdom.  When his first finger joined his tongue, Jared screamed, “Fuck, Jensen, please, need you now.  Fuck please,” he demanded.

Jensen’s tongue pulled out of his body, swiping across the outer rim one more time before he pressed another finger in.  “Told you I’d have you begging for it,” he whispered into Jared’s neck as he added a third finger into his body.  “Know how much you hate it now.”

Jared pulled his face back to his, kissing any more words from Jensen’s lips.  Jared was thrusting back onto his hand and he could feel Jensen’s hard cock as he leaned in closer.  When Jensen’s fingers pulled back, he pressed in and it was the torturous glide he’d used the rest of the night.

“Stars, Jared, so damn good,” he whispered into the skin behind his ear.

Jared just pulled him tight, his body aching for more.  Jensen pulled back and thrust into him and they were both moaning then.  When Jensen sat up on both arms, he suddenly stopped and Jared was caught in his eyes.  The bond rushed between them and he couldn’t breath, couldn’t think of anything but how beautiful his husband was, how perfect and amazing and how he’d do anything to keep him.  Jensen’s eyes widened and he leaned closer, his lips soft against Jared’s.  “Jared, love,” he whispered.

“Always,” he answered back.

Jensen rested his head against Jared’s forehead for a moment before he started moving again, his cock sliding in and out of Jared, pressing his prostate at every pass.  “Gonna hate this forever,” Jensen teased.

Jared let out a bark of laughter and couldn’t help the smile that lit up his face as he looked up at Jensen.  “Definitely.  Gonna hate this every damn night until forever.”

Jensen kissed him then, bit at his bottom lip, and it all became too much.  His orgasm came from nowhere, crashing over him.  He spilled between then, his body clenching around Jensen who gripped him tight, his own climax hitting at the same time.

It took a few minutes for them to calm down and then Jensen was pulling away, grabbing a washcloth to clean them up.  When he settled back onto the bed he spooned up behind Jared.  His lips pressed to the back of Jared’s neck and he sighed into it, the man behind him and into the bond that was irrefutable between them now.

“Hate you,” he teased.

“Hate me all you want, but this ass is mine now.”  Jensen smacked his ass lightly as he said it, but he pulled Jared over, into his arms and kissed him gently.  It was well into the morning before either of them got any sleep. 

 

 

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“He could be the one behind it all.”

“He could just be an innocent.”

“He could be playing the Vice Minister to get rid of him.”

Jared walked into the wheel room and found his sister and the Guardsmen talking intently.  Jensen looked up as he came in, his eyes lighting up even though he kept his face neutral.  There was a slight pull at his lips though and Jared knew he was keeping himself from smiling.  Jared did the same though he didn’t know why they were bothering.  It wasn’t like the others didn’t know about the bond already. 

“Jared,” Danneel looked up as he stepped closer and she smiled wide enough for everyone else.  She got up and wrapped her arms around his waist and he returned the gesture, pulling her close until he could feel her heart beating against his chest. 

“Are you two ever going to stop the love fest?” Misha asked with a grin.

“Never,” Danneel answered quickly.

“Thought the reunion would be over by now,” Jeff added.

Jared looked down at her and shrugged.  “We have a lot of years worth of affection to make up for,” he said softly.  “We were separated at birth.  My mother, or Sharondra dea’kin, told me the truth when I was ten, that I had a sister and that one day I would stand at her side to defend her against all her enemies.  But I never got to see her, until now.”

“At least you had the news and the vids.  I only knew a name.”

“And what, little sister, were you discussing when I came in?”

She pulled him over to the table and took a seat on his left.  Warmth filled him from the right as Jensen pulled his chair closer, draping his arm across the back of it.  Danneel’s eyes went wide but no one actually said anything about it.

“Your friends were debating Prince Christian’s involvement with the kidnapping,” Danneel informed him.

Jared shook his head.  “He’s not involved.”

“We know what you heard from Hutton but that doesn’t mean-“

“No,” he said, cutting Misha off quickly.  “As dea’kin I tell you he isn’t involved.  I’ve studied Christian for the past few years and I have someone on his staff.  If he was even thinking of trying to take the throne for his own I would have known about it.”

“You foresaw problems that long ago?” Jensen asked.

“No, but as far as everyone knows, Christian is the next in line to the throne.  The fact that there are two living royals before him doesn’t matter.”

“Wait, two?  You and?” Jeff pressed.

“Sharondra dea’kin.  She was the Queen’s sister.  It was why she was trusted with my upbringing and training.  The Queen knew that her sister would raise me well and that she would train me for the same duties that she herself had once performed.”  Jared smiled at Jeff.  “You said I looked like my mother and you’re right.  I looked more like the Queen’s sister than the Queen and it served us well as a cover.  Just as my sister looking like the Queen has served her well.”

Danneel nodded.  “So Christian isn’t involved in this.  I didn’t want to think he was.  As political as he is, he’s kind and far too gentle to be a King.”

“Far too gentle to kidnap his closest cousin.  Hutton was right that Christian’s grief over Danneel’s disappearance would make the people love him.  He’s probably very upset right now, wondering what happened to her.”

She sighed, looking down at the table and he took her hand.  “We just won’t tell him the part where you wanted to run away.  We’ll highlight the dangerous kidnapping parts.”

She smiled then, and it was like the sun breaking through stormy clouds.  He didn’t know how he’d lived his life without his sister’s smile, but he had it now and he was never going to let anything dim it.  When he looked over at Jeff sitting on her other side, he knew the other Guard was thinking the same way.

“Oh hell,” he said suddenly as he flicked his eyes back and forth between Danneel and Jeff.

“What?”

“It’s just gonna take a while to get used to,” Jared said.

“What?”

“Well, once Danneel takes the crown, it’ll be hard to think of you as the King.”

Jeff’s face blanched and Danneel let out a delighted laugh.  “Don’t worry Jeff,” she teased, “I promise not to make you wear the crown to bed.”

The others laughed and Jeff continued to sputter; he obviously hadn’t thought the implications of his bond all the way through.  He finally managed to glare at Jensen.  “What are you laughing at?  That makes you a prince too, doesn’t it?  Bonded to a prince?”

“Married.”

“What?”

“As soon as the bond settled,” Danneel finished for Jared, “the marriage was completed.”

“So,” Jared said, looking at Jeff and then Jensen, “married.  Welcome to the royal family.”

Jared had to bite his bottom lip to keep from laughing at Jensen’s wide eyes.  Jeff and Jensen were both a little white under the collar.  Danneel was patting Jeff’s hand to try to comfort the man who would be her King and Jared was trying hard not to lean over and kiss the astonishment from Jensen’s face.

Misha, on the other hand, laughed so hard he fell out of his chair.

 

 

The Dreamwalker sailed into port with no official notice or warning.  They didn’t let anyone know they were coming in on the hopes that a busy crowded port would give them enough anonymity to be unnoticed by the watchful eyes of the Vice Minister. 

Jared watched as Jeff and Misha walked down the plank, taking in the area and the people around them.  No one jumped out at them or seemed to pay them any mind.  When Jeff called the others out, Jensen moved in front of the Princess and Jared took his place behind her, protecting her from anyone that might come after her.  Nothing happened.  In fact, they were able to get a carriage away from the port without any trouble.

Jared still couldn’t breathe though and when he looked at Jensen he could tell his husband felt the same.  Trouble was waiting for them somewhere along the line. 

They weren’t half an hour outside of the port when the carriage lurched to a stop.  They all tensed, looking at Jensen.  He nodded to Misha.  “See what’s happening.”

Misha was out of the carriage before Jared spoke.  “We should only be ten, maybe fifteen minutes away from Christian’s manor house.  If we can get her there she’ll be protected.”

“Hutton could have men there,” Jeff reminded them.

“Hutton’s got men here, that’s for certain.” Misha said as he came back.  “The drivers have taken off.  Hutton must have had the carriage waiting for us.”

Jensen turned to the Princess, giving her a humorless grin.  “Princess, I’m afraid our little tour of the countryside is going to have to be a walking one.”

“Or running,” Jared interrupted.

“You expect me to run?” Danneel asked, her eyes wide.  “What if someone saw me? A Queen does not run.”

“They’d think it far more dignified than if they caught me carrying you over my shoulder,” Jeff answered before Jared could.

Danneel opened her mouth to speak but there must have been something in her husband’s eyes that made her realize he wasn’t teasing.  “I can run.”

Jared bit the inside of his lip to keep from laughing.  He’d worried for a bit that someone like Danneel would be hard to handle, but Jeff was already taking care of her like a pro.  He looked over to his own husband then.  “Don’t think it will work with me.”

Jensen’s grin was brilliant.  “Like I could carry your overgrown ass.”

“If all the newlyweds are done, can we take this discussion somewhere less likely to be attacked?”  Misha asked.

“Probably not,” Jensen said.  “Are we clear?”

“Probably not,” Misha mimicked back, “but it seems clear.”

Jared took a deep breath as he looked at his sister and then at the others.  Misha was the first out of the carriage with Jeff right behind him.  Danneel followed quickly but Jensen stopped Jared with a hand to the wrist.  “Jared, no matter what happens our duty is to the Princess.  You get her out of here.”

“And leave you?”

“If need be.”  Jared took a deep breath to deny it but Jensen stopped him.  “We all have a duty here, Jared,” he said and Jared could feel the sincerity of his words.  He would rather die than to fail the Princess, no matter that days ago she’d just been a spoiled brat. 

Jensen didn’t give him another chance to comment before he swept out of the carriage and he followed without hesitation.  Jensen was right, but he didn’t have to like it.  And it didn’t mean he wouldn’t leave Danneel and Jeff with Christian to come back for his husband if need be.

They moved away from the road and into the woods on the side.  Hutton’s men could be watching the road or the woods, but it was quicker to cut through on foot than to go around the path the road took.  They were moving quickly, not running but they all held their swords ready and Jared saw the fire in his sister’s eyes as she pulled out her bladed fan.  She might have been taken the first time, but she’d accepted who she was now.  Anyone that tried to stand in her way was going to get a fight on their hands.   

They moved quietly, the four of them surrounding her.  Jeff led the way with Jared on one side, Jensen and Jared on either side and Misha at the rear.  They were about half way there before the first person stepped out.  When they were done moving, there were six men surrounding them and noise to his right made Jared turn to see two men stepping out in front of him.    

“Well now, it looks like we finally caught the men responsible for taking the Princess away from her civic duties,” Abel said with a sneer as he took a step closer to Jared.  Jensen moved to his side as Hodge stepped up beside Abel.

“Step down King’s Guard,” Jared said firmly.  “We’re taking the Princess to her cousin so she can be safe until the coronation.”

“You hear that everybody?” Hodge called out.  “We can go home early tonight.”

Abel laughed and the other men joined in.  “I think we’ll be taking the Princess from here.  She’s not exactly looking her best these days.  I hear she got in with a rough crowd and they really didn’t treat her well.  The Vice Minister isn’t so sure she’s going to pull through.”

Jared could hear Jeff’s growl from where he was and couldn’t help but smile.  He pulled out his second, shorter blade in anticipation of the fight.  He looked over his shoulder, saw Danneel’s determined look and then back to his husband at his side. 

Jensen smiled at him and it was wild and brilliant.  “Well life in the royal family never seems to get boring.”

Jared laughed as he turned back to the Hodge and Abel.  They didn’t waste time with more words.  Abel moved with the efficiency of a trained killer, closing the distance between them and he swung wild, pushing Jared and Jensen apart.

Jared turned as Hodge followed him.  His first swing was just as wild as Abel’s had been, as if he expected Jared to be too clumsy or ineffective to block it.  His follow up was controlled though, his eyes assessing and calculating as Jared intercepted each swing of the sword with his own.

“I expected better of the King’s Guard,” Jared taunted as he swung up with the short blade, forcing Hodge back a step. 

“I was expecting you to be dead already,” Hodge threw back.  “A couple lucky swings doesn’t make you one of the Guard.”

Jared laughed as he opened up his stance and let Hodge have his run.  The man came at him, swinging tight and controlled, and it was a dance that Jared knew well.  As he spun, his eyes caught the movements of the others.  There were three men down already, two at Jeff’s feet and one at Misha’s.  On the other side of their circle, Jensen was fighting with Abel and another man, holding them back from the Princess.  Two men were rushing Misha and another was coming up on Jeff. 

“Dani!”  He yelled as he watched one of the attackers trying to grab her as Jeff blocked his other attack.  Danneel turned just in time to see him, her arms already bring the fan to bear.  The Guard tried to reach her, but her blade caught him across the arm and she slashed out again without hesitation, a gash appearing across his face.

Jeff had a sword through his chest before he could move further and Jared was swinging back at Abel, ready to put it all to an end. 

“Should have known you’d give her teeth,” Abel said to Jensen as they circled until Jensen and Jared were back to back.  “She wasn’t so hard to catch the first time.”

“She didn’t have a big brother with her the first time,” Jared answered for Jensen.    

Abel’s face dropped, surprise giving Jensen the moment he needed.  He didn’t waste it as he blocked the last thrust and pressed in with his own, sliding his blade home.

“Jake!” Hodge screamed and Jared ducked under his weak left side and felt the force of his blade sinking in. 

He let Hodge fall to the ground, moving with him.  Hodge looked over at Abel and then back up at Jared.  “He was my brother,” his words were barely a whisper and Jared closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

“I know,” he answered honestly, “but you should have remembered that she was your sister.” 

He pulled away then, standing to see how the others fared. 

Jeff had Danneel wrapped in his arms, his eyes taking in their surroundings but holding her close to him.  Jared more than approved as he looked over to see the alarm in his husband eyes.  Jensen looked pale and Jared could feel his concern. 

“There were rumors,” Misha said softly, “about Abel.”

“Truth, not rumors,” Jared said with a shake of his head.  “It doesn’t change what he was fighting for.”

“Jared?” Jensen asked as he came forward.

“We need to get Danneel to Christian’s Manor.”

Jensen nodded but he gripped Jared’s arm forcing him to stand there for a moment while the others started walking.  “I’m sorry.”

Jared nodded, keeping his thoughts to himself.  He’d always known the truth of the matter.  Even if Abel had been unaware of Jared’s existence, he hadn’t been.  The king had never been anything more than a political alliance for Queen Samantha and when he’d done his duty by her and fathered a daughter, he’d left behind a pack of half-siblings for Jared and Danneel to deal with.  He thought he’d been discreet where he’d sown his oats, and perhaps he had been, but not discreet enough to pass the notice of the dea’kin. 

He suspected the King’s untimely healthy had been the Vice Minister’s doing.  Left to his own devices Jared knew the King would have set one of his own brood on the throne.  He didn’t know if the Vice Minister knew that Abel was the king’s first choice of heir or if he’d simply picked him up as a conspirator along the way.  He did know that Hodge was set in Abel’s camp long before the Vice Minister made his plans.  Maybe the king had put him there to support Abel, the way Queen Samantha had given Jared to Danneel, but he had his doubts.  It made him feel a little better though, knowing they died side by side instead of at one another’s throats.

He nodded to Jensen, taking a moment to find strength in his lover’s presence, then he pulled away softly.  “It’s time to finish this.”

They turned together and jogged up to the others, Danneel already regaling Misha on how she’d managed to thwart her own kidnapping with the flick of her wrist.

 

 

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If anyone had doubted their opinion, the greeting Prince Christian gave his cousin settled them immediately.  He threw his arms around her, pulling her close, completely unaware that Jeff was a second away from killing him.  Jared’s arm on his sword hand stopped the movement and he knew the Guard was tense, waiting for the Prince to try to harm his new wife.

When they backed away, tears tracking down Christian’s face, they all relaxed.

“They said you’d gone off on your own but I wouldn’t believe it Danneel,” he said softly as he embraced her again.  “No matter what front you gave the world, I knew you would never turn aside.  You would never ruin Samantha’s name like that.”

Jared could see the tremor in Danneel as she pulled back.  “It was a close thing, but I had help remembering.  Please, can we retire someplace more private?  I have a story to tell you.”  She looked back at Misha and winked.  “A true one.”

Christian was a good host, leading them back to his study and sending for drinks and warm, wet cloths to wash away the dirt of the road.  When they were done, Danneel sat across from Christian on a couch with Jeff standing behind her.  Misha watched the door and Jensen moved from one window to another, keeping an eye out just in case.  Jared sat next to Danneel and he could see the way the Prince watched the two of them even as he waited to see what she would say.

Danneel took a long drink from her tea cup before setting it down, smiling softly at Christian.  “I should begin with introductions cousin.  I believe you already know the head of the Queen’s Guard, Jensen Ackles.”

Jensen stopped in his watch to come forward, bowing lightly to the Prince.  “Your highness,” he said formally.

Danneel grinned as she leaned over, whispered in Jensen’s ear just loud enough for Jared to overhear, “Technically, you outrank him now.”  Jensen looked down, a soft blush covering his skin and Jared couldn’t help but smile at his sister for causing it. 

Christian cleared his throat, not having heard her words.  “It is an honor to have you in my home.”

Jensen bowed again and turned back to the window as Danneel continued with the introductions.  “Our guard standing watch by the door is Misha Collins.”

“Your highness.”  He didn’t bow but it wasn’t the Ardacian way to lower themselves for others, but there was a swift nod of the head to acknowledge the Prince.  Christian returned the gesture and Jared could see his mind working, trying to connect the Ardacian gesture with the Guard in front of him.

“The man behind me is Jeff Morgan,” she said as she let her fingers caress his hand where it lay on the back of the couch, “my husband.”

Christian stood immediately, “Your majesty,” he bowed.

Jeff turned three shades of red and looked lost.  “Dani, I think you’ve had your fun,” Jared chided. 

She glared at him for a second before giving in to the childish need to stick her tongue out at him.  “You are no fun, Jared.  Not a tiny bit whatsoever.”

Before he could say anything else though she let her other hand rest on Jared’s knee.  “And this, dear Christian, is my dea’kin and my twin brother, Jared.”

Christian’s eyes grew wider with each word and he stared for a moment, turning to each of their party.  “I’m not sure I know where to begin asking, Danneel.”

“Well then,” her smile was pleased.  “Perhaps I should just make a go of it.  But Jared, tell your husband to quit pacing before it throws me off my storytelling.”

It was a simple way of giving that last bit of information to Christian as well, explaining that the head of the Queen’s Guard was also his husband, and it gave the Prince a chance to digest that before moving on.  Going from the second highest ranking person in the kingdom to the fourth in the room could have been staggering to some men.  Christian took it was an easy grace though, proving he was the man Jared had always thought he was. 

Jensen came up behind Jared then.  He leaned on the back of the couch but his face was to the windows still.  Jared gave his hand a small pat, catching his eyes for a minute and giving him a smile with a brief nod in thanks for his continued care of his sister and cousin.  Jensen just rolled his eyes, the ‘ _and you’_ of his gesture almost loud enough for Jared to hear.

“This story is about an evil Vice Minister, a stupid girl, and a brave group of men,” Danneel started.  “And in the end I will have a question to ask of you.  My King, the head of my dea’kin and my Queen’s Guard are above reproach, I would have it of my Vice Minister as well.  Think on that, as you hear about our time apart.”

 

 

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“You’re putting a lot on him,” Jensen said softly, his lips brushing over Jared’s shoulder.

Jared looked up at his husband, the sky outside just beginning to turn to light that shone through the bedroom window to catch in his emerald eyes.  Jensen was sitting up on one elbow, his free hand trailing over Jared’s chest.  It was going to be a long day and they were both taking what time they could together.

“Christian will be fine.  You don’t doubt his loyalty, do you?” 

“No,” Jensen said with a shake of his head.  “I don’t doubt his loyalty, just his ability to get the confession we need.”  Jensen leaned closer, brushing his lips over Jared’s bare neck.  “We have an hour before we have to get up though and I have better uses for those lips.”

Jared’s laugh was muffled as Jensen’s lips pressed into his, taking any further thought of words from his mind.  Jensen trailed kisses down his neck and moved over him, settling between his legs as he leaned with his elbows on either side of Jared’s head.  He was still open from their night’s recreations and Jensen slid inside him with one long push. 

Jared bit his lips to keep his voice lowered until Jensen’s mouth was there again, swallowing his moans.  They came together like that, breathing the same breath, clinging to one another.  When they were sated, Jensen pulled him into his arms and they took the rest of their leisure there.

When it was time, they cleaned up.  Jared pulled his pants up, tying the fastenings as he looked out the window.  He reached over for his shirt and found it missing.  He was about to look on the floor when he felt the press of his husband against his back.  “Looking for something?” Jensen asked.

Jared smiled as Jensen pulled one sleeve up his arm and then pulled the fabric tight across his back.  He pulled the second sleeve up, kissing the nape of Jared’s neck as he moved around.  He straightened the material over Jared’s chest and fastened it for him. 

“You missed your calling as a personal dresser,” Jared teased.

“At least I would get to see you naked more often.”

“And I know how much you would hate that.”

Jensen smiled as he looked up at Jared.  “Oh I would hate that,” he said, letting his eyes fall down the length of his body.  “I would hate that my husband.”

Jared pressed into him, a strong kiss.  “About as much as I hate hearing that word from your lips.”

“Which word is that?”

“Husband.”

“Speak if often enough and even an old soldier like me can learn new tricks.”

Jared laughed, but took a step back.  “It’s time to join the others.”

“I hate letting this happen,” Jensen said one last time and this time Jared knew he meant the word.  He nodded, but moved to the door to join their friends for the morning meal.

 

 

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Their breakfast was well prepared and they ate their fill, taking what time was left to be together.  Christian was not just a good host but laughed often and Jared found himself liking his cousin more than he thought was possible for a first meeting.  It didn’t hurt that Christian and Jensen had worked up an easy friendship, the two men talking about music and sword forms, debating the best of each and arguing good naturedly about it.

When it came time, Christian took to his study again.  Danneel was hidden in the rooms upstairs with Jeff at her side.  Jared, Jensen, and Misha waited in the adjoining room.  Christian turned on an intercom that would allow them to hear everything, but they were close to the door should he need their help. 

And the stars bless his cousin; there was an actual peep hole for Jared to look through.  Jensen and Misha had argued for all of fifteen minutes over who could look through it when Danneel smiled sweetly at them and reminded them of the dea’kin in their midst who was better trained at reading subtle human gestures and would therefore have a better chance at reading any violence against Christian before it happened.  Jensen watched her for a moment before sighing.  “You’re always going to take his side, aren’t you?” 

Jensen was normally so formal with her that his question threw her off and it took a full minute before she was laughing delightedly.  “Only when he’s right, Queen’s Guard.  A sister has to keep her brother on her toes though, and who better to help than his husband?”

So Jared had a full view of the Vice Minister’s entry.  Misha had already whispered over that the Vice Minister was with two guards but Hutton came through the door to Christian’s study by himself, striding in as if it were his own home.

“Christian,” the Vice Minister was smiling, but his voice was tight and controlled.  “I know you had wanted a few minutes of time this morning but I only have a few to spare, with your coronation and all.”

“Yes, the coronation.  Are you so sure that my cousin won’t show?”  Christian asked.  “I know Danneel.  She loves her people.  She might not have shown it in ways that they understand yet, but her whole life has been spent training for this moment.”

“We’ve had news that the Princess was seen in the outer rims.”

“Really?”  Christian asked in surprise.  “I’m surprised because I had word she was here just yesterday.”  Christian didn’t wait for a reply and Jared watched the way Hutton tried to bite back a response to that.  “You should probably have chosen your personal guard a little better Vice Minister.  Abel wasn’t just your man, he was the king’s also.  Did you know that?”

Jared watched Christian, reappraising him as he took on the Vice Minister.  Whatever Hutton thought he was, Christian was more.  “Jake Abel was my half cousin, and the king intended him to take the throne at his death.  Of course, he thought that would be a few years off but you were getting too impatient for that sort of thing.  Instead, you murdered the king.  It would be too hard without him acknowledging Abel to the people so you chose me to take the throne instead.  Sound familiar?”

“Your highness, you overestimate my importance.”

“No, just your ambition.  But I won’t let you use me like that.  I don’t know what you’ve done with my cousin, but I won’t take the throne.  It’s hers.  Tressia is meant to be ruled by a queen and I will not be the one to fail the throne.”

“You ignorant brat,” Hutton yelled.  He moved closer to Christian and Jared held his hands up, stopping Jensen from moving in.  They needed the confession and Christian was still relatively safe.  “I’m going to make you a king, Christian, but you want to hide behind your cousin’s skirts instead!”  The Vice Minister took another step forward but Jared could see him taking deep breaths as if to calm himself.  “Today, you will take the throne.  You will go to the coronation and you will accept the honor as the only living member of the royal family.  I will be at your side and you will announce that I will continue to aid you, as I did your uncle, as Vice Minister to the king.  And if you don’t I will have you locked up for conspiring to kill the Princess.”

“You know I didn’t,” Christian’s voice was hard, “you can’t prove anything.”

“I don’t have to prove it.  Tell the world you did it and you won’t last a night.  As soon as I have my men take you into a prison cell, the inmates would take care of it quick enough.”

“So if I don’t take Danneel’s crown, you’ll have me killed.”

“It’s good to see that you finally have a grasp of the situation.”

“And if my cousin shows up at the coronation?”

“My men have her,” the Vice Minister lied, “and she will most definitely not be making the ceremony.  Now, about Abel and Hodge.  If one crossed over to you I know they both did.  Wherever you have them, you will give them up to me.”

“So you can kill them too?”

“If they betrayed the trust of his Vice Minister, why would I keep them around?”

It was all they needed, more than actually, and Jared moved away from the peep hole just in time to see his husband throw back the doors and walk into the room.  Hutton was backpedaling towards the other doors but Misha was already moving to intercept him.

“I believe we have something to discuss, Vice Minister Hutton,” Misha said in a quiet voice.  There was violence in his tone and the Vice Minister seemed to feel it as well.  He backed away from Misha before he could speak again.

“Your men, if you’re speaking about the eight who were waiting for us at the port, are dead.”  Jensen informed him with a smile.  “The Princess Danneel will be taking the throne today.  And you are under arrest for the murder of the king, abducting the Princess, and attempting to usurp the power of the throne.”

Jared tensed, waiting for Hutton to try something.  There was a noise from outside the doors, fighting maybe from the two guards who were waiting outside for the Vice Minister.  Misha spun when the doors opened, weapon at the ready, but it was Jeff and Danneel who walked in.

He could see the angry lines of Jeff’s face and he had no doubt his cousin had come down against his wishes.  He didn’t blame her for needing to face Hutton, but she could have waited until they had him cuffed and his guards in custody.  He could see their bodies now on the floor in the other room.

“You killed my father,” Danneel said, her voice flat and controlled.  He doubted there was any love loss there.  He knew more than he needed to about the King and his intentions.  Although it didn’t look like his plans included killing his daughter, it was certain he meant to keep her away from people once he set his plans in motion and put Abel on the throne.  Whatever sort of king he was, he was a poor father and Danneel’s lack of feeling towards him mirrored Jared’s own.

“You tried to abduct me and plant someone else on my throne so that you could wield its power.”

“I will have you destroyed,” Hutton hissed. 

Danneel smiled at him then.  “I’d like to see you try.”

He started to move but then Jeff was between them and Jared and Jensen had hold of him, cuffing his arms behind his back as Christian made the call that would bring the Queen’s Guard who, disbanded or not, were waiting to take him in.

They didn’t have to wait long before Hutton was gone, Misha going with them to make sure he arrived in the holding cell.  Christian’s manor became a bevy of activity then as Danneel directed everything, preparing for the rest of the day.  They might have captured Hutton and removed the threat he posed, but Danneel still had to get to the coronation and take her throne.

 

 

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The crowd gathered in front of the palace and Jared watched from the polished alcove of a royal carriage.  Not the one he should have been in, but the one that minor nobility rode.  Princess Danneel was completely agreeable to the transportation though, once Jeff reminder just how much they all had at stake if she didn’t make it to her coronation, and while Hutton and his men had been taken care of it was always possible someone else might take it upon themselves to use the event to their own ends. 

“Everything seems to be in order,” Jared said softly.  Jeff nodded in agreement and as the carriage stopped, Jared took a deep breath, preparing to show himself to the world for the first time in his true place.  Danneel took his hand and smiled.  “We’ll show the world what we can do, Jared.  Together, we’ll find a way to be who we are and still do our duty.”

He smiled at her fondly, nodding as he stood, stooping in the carriage.  “First we need to get you a throne.”

“And then a taller carriage,” Danneel mock whispered to Jeff and he could feel the unnecessary edge leaking away.  He stepped out, his fine tunic and pants catching in the light with gold and green thread that was only worn by the royal family.  Gasps went up around him and he ignored it, his eyes seeking out trouble or possible allies.  Jeff came after, still in the Queen’s Guard uniform, holding his hand up for the Princess Danneel.  She straightened up out of the carriage and a scream broke through the masses, adoring the woman who had grown in their eyes from a babe to the beautiful woman she was.  She gave one arm to Jeff but stopped next to Jared.

“Would you escort me brother?” She asked in a voice loud enough to carry to those close to them.  Jared rolled his eyes at her but she had been determined to let that secret out of the bag today and he was interested to see how long that ‘rumor’ became something more.  He took her hand though and walked with her up the steps to their family home, the great Castle Tressia. 

“If I could give you anything to be happy Jared, what would it be?” she asked softly.

He understood that she wanted the truth, that if he asked for it she would give him his freedom, no matter what rumor she’d already started.  He smiled as he brought her to the front of the assembly and kissed her forehead softly.  “There is nothing you can give me that would make me happier than I am right now,” he said softly.  When Jensen and Misha came out from behind the throne to stand at the Princess’s side for the coronation he smiled wide and looked at his husband.  “I have him and I have you.  There is nothing more I could want in this life.”

She looked sideways at Jeff and then back at Jared.  “I agree big brother.”

When she took the throne it was with a love of her people and her family that got her through the words.  It was with the love of her brother and of her guards.

And if the rest of the guard seemed a little surprised when she pulled out Jeff’s electric sword and screamed “All for one, and one for all!” into the crowd as the ceremony ended, they followed her lead and yelled the Queen’s Guard motto just the same.

All except for two. 

Jared, who had only held the title of Queen’s Guard for a few days though he had long desired it, watched her with pride and reverence.  He sat at her side, silent because he was her dea’kin. 

Beside him, the head of her Guard smiled fondly at her, but his hand touched Jared’s shoulder and he leaned in softly and whispered into Jared’s ear.  “Your sister is crazy, boy.  I know how you feel about that all for one stuff, but just remember this.  All for one, but your ass is mine.”

Jared let out a startled laugh and Jensen slid back into his place at the Queen’s side.  The Queen saw Jared’s smile and then Jensen’s and she laughed back for no other reason that she could.

She was the Queen after all.  And Jared could see it in her eyes that today, of all days; it was good to be the Queen.   

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the J2_everafter challenge. I chose to remake the Three Musketeers, which I obviously adore. Throw in my love for J2 IN SPACE *echoes* and there you go :P Thanks to the mods of this challenge because I adore it so very much! And to maryjo24 who beta'd most of this (she didn't get to see a few scenes and called me mean for it :P) and kicked my butt into gear for it!


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